Me Monty, You Amy
by VampireNaomi
Summary: This is a series of random one-shots about Monkey Fist, DNAmy and their relationship - or in many cases, the lack of it.
1. One to Five

I can't believe it's been a year, but here we go. It's again March 20, which means that today is the Monkey Fist Appreciation Day. To celebrate, I'm starting this story. There will be thirty of these short stories in total, and I will be posting them five at a time.

There is no continuous plot or theme in here. All of these stories are entirely random, have nothing to do with each other and play with contradicting elements. One story might be about Monty getting Amy a birthday present while the next one shows him kill her. There are only a few occasions when two stories are connected, and I will point it out in these cases. For example, the first two in this chapter are linked.

The titles for the stories come from a Livejournal writing prompt that I gave a try. The community is called un_love_you in case someone wants to take the same challenge.

**ME MONTY, YOU AMY**

**001-005**

**001: You were right about me**

"_When will you get it that I do not and will never love you, you stupid woman?"_

It was two weeks now since her Monty-wonty had yelled those horrible words at her. Amy didn't know why they had struck her so much this time. He had been using similar excuses to slip away from her company ever since she had made her feelings known to him. This time something had just clicked.

She rolled to her other side, but the change of position offered her no comfort. The Pandaroo in her arms, though a dear friend, didn't make her feel at all better. She could only lie on her bed and think about the past and what she had done.

She had fallen in love with him as soon as she had first laid her eyes on him. He had been so handsome and charming when he had approached her about her research. He had shared her excitement about genetic mutations and they had had such a great time planning his procedure. She had thought she had finally found her soul mate, someone who understood her perfectly and liked her for who she was.

Maybe she had only imagined it, or maybe he had led her on on purpose to make sure she finished their project. Either way, she had been convinced that they were meant to be. It just couldn't be any other way.

Amy sniffed as she buried her face into her pillow. She had been too struck by his words to try to say anything to him, to explain herself or ask him to reconsider. She had only stood there and watched how he turned his back on her and walked away after his rant. Then she had returned home, and she hadn't called him a single time after that. He hadn't called her either, no matter how much she wished he would.

"_Are you incapable of understanding basic English? Give up! Go bother someone else!"_

How could he say those things to her? Didn't he realise how much she loved him? That he was the most important person in her life and that she would give anything to be with him?

Maybe that was the problem. Amy loved him so much that she had assumed he felt the same for her, so she hadn't asked him what he wanted. She had just kept chasing him around the world and surprising him every chance she got. She had thought he liked it but that he was just too embarrassed to admit it.

I should have probably been more considerate, she thought. Her love had been too consuming and aggressive. All those times he had rejected her had been whirling back and forth in her mind for these past weeks, and she had come to the realisation that he had actually been trying to push her away but she hadn't got it. Silly, but it had really taken her this long to get it.

She had been so stupid. No wonder he had grown annoyed with her.

"_Just leave me alone! I don't want to see you ever again in my life!"_

It was too late to fix the damage now. Amy could feel it when she thought back to his cold eyes and how he had glared at her with utter contempt and frustration. He would never love her. He would only hate her.

* * *

She didn't know what time it was when she woke up, only that it was still dark. At first it took her groggy mind some time to realise why she had woken up in the first place, but then she felt the warm tongue against her hand.

"Lucy!" she exclaimed as she recognised her little dog and lobster hybrid. "What's wrong, sweetie?"

Amy turned on the lamp on the nightstand and took a look at the dogster. The animal nuzzled against her hand and let out a whine. Amy picked her up in her hands and took a careful look, fearing that her cute pet was sick. When nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary, she put Lucy back on the bed.

"Do you need something?" she asked.

Lucy jumped on the floor and scurried out of the room. She stopped at the door to glance behind her to make sure that she had Amy's attention.

Frowning to herself, Amy put on her slippers and followed the dogster out of her bedroom. She was led to the kitchen, and when she switched on the light, she saw Lucy poking her empty food bowl with her snout.

"Oh, you poor thing! I forgot to feed you!" she exclaimed and rushed to the counter to pick up the can of dog food. She dumped half of the contents into Lucy's bowl and watched how the creature dug into her breakfast like she had never seen food before in her life.

Amy couldn't believe that she had forgotten to take proper care of her pet. She had never failed to do that in her life for her creatures were the most precious thing she had. They were all her friends. They were probably the only beings in the world that loved her as unconditionally as she loved them.

She made herself some lemon tea with cookies and sat at the table. For a while she only watched Lucy eat, but then she turned her eyes to the mug in her hands.

"This is going too far," she muttered. If she forgot to feed her lovely Lucy, it meant that her priorities were all wrong. Just because of that man. He had hurt her and made her forget about her friends.

"That… that big meanie!" she swore, but she couldn't stay angry at him. As much as she hated to admit it, he had a point. She had driven him to that angry rant. If she had been a little less aggressive and a little more open to what he thought and felt, maybe none of this would have ever happened.

"Maybe I was the meanie this time," she said to Lucy. The dogster gave no indication that she agreed or disagreed, but she looked up at her owner with eyes filled with adoration. At least Lucy would never leave her.

The more she thought about the countless times she had jumped at Monty, declared her love for him, grabbed him into her arms and ignored his loud protests, the worse she felt about herself. She really had been tactless, and she couldn't blame him for starting to hate her. She should have remembered how grumpy he always was and that he wouldn't like the same things she did.

Amy picked Lucy up and let the dogster rest on her knees. She released an unhappy sigh as she stroked the creature between the ears.

She still loved him, but she didn't think she would be able to make things right again. Monty was always so stubborn and got fixated on things. He would probably hate her forever. The mere idea made her feel miserable and she could barely hold back sob, but she didn't want to start crying again.

Lucy nuzzled closer against her, as if sensing her owner's grief. It made Amy feel just a tad better, and she smiled gratefully at her pet.

"Aww, thank you. I don't know what I'd do without you," she cooed.

Would she ever fall in love again if she couldn't have Monty? Would anybody like her after the embarrassing spectacle she had made of herself and the horror stories Monty had to have told about her? Would Monty have liked her if she had been acting differently?

The thought made her frown. Though her actions had been a little over the top, she had meant everything she had said. It didn't feel right that she would have to censor or change herself just to please one stupid, stubborn man. If he didn't like her the way she was, what was the point? She didn't want a relationship without cuddling or kisses.

Maybe they just weren't meant to be.

**002: I was wrong about you**

Monkey Fist hadn't wanted to come to this villain convention. He was certain that DNAmy was lurking behind some corner, ready to grab his arm and pull him into a bone-crushing hug and declare her never-ending love to him so that half of the villains present would hear the embarrassing gushing before he managed to get free and run away.

There were only two things that had finally changed his mind and made him come. First of all, he was in a dire need of money. When he had spent his family fortune on the mutation on his hands and feet, he had assumed that he would just need the four statues and that the world would be his. He hadn't counted on that he'd have to keep fighting for the title of the Ultimate Monkey Master or that it would cost so much to own lairs and fly all over the world in search of ancient artefacts. To finance that, he sometimes accepted odd jobs from other villains and shady characters. There were certainly enough people in the world willing to pay for the services of a ninja who had little to no morals.

The second reason was Amy, which was a little ironic since she was also the reason why he had wanted to stay away. It was now about four months since he had blown up at her face and told her exactly how he felt about her and her antics. He felt he had finally had some success because she had only stared at her like she was a sick puppy that he had just kicked. She had said nothing and hadn't run after him once he had left.

He had kept his phone off for the first two weeks after that, suspecting that she would ring him every hour to say how much she loved him. He had still expected that when he had turned his phone on, but there had been no word from her.

After half a week, he hadn't been able stop wondering why she wasn't annoying him anymore. He had spent an entire day online searching for Cuddle Buddy conventions and meetings that might have distracted her.

He had left the hideout in the Amazon and returned to the castle, thinking that maybe she didn't know where he was and would try to reach him at his home. As annoying as she was, he had wanted to make sure she did no damage, such as redecorating, to the ancestral home during his absence.

The castle had been just as empty and cold as when he had last been there. There were no letters, phone calls or e-mails for him.

She must be getting tricky, he had thought to himself. Maybe she was actually taking some distance in order to fool him into feeling secure. Then she would strike at full force when his defences were down.

That had to be it.

He had told his monkey ninjas to keep constant watch over the castle grounds. Now that he finally had a break from Amy, it was the perfect opportunity to get some research done. He had some ancient scrolls that he was dying to translate, but he had been unable to concentrate while he had been running away from her.

It was just too bad that he couldn't concentrate now either. It was too quiet. He hadn't been able to stop thinking that it was the calm before the storm, and he had kept obsessing over what Amy would do when she assaulted him again. He had thought back to the previous times and tried to see if there was any sort of pattern. He had put his research aside to read some of her love letters – those that he hadn't had the time to burn because he had fled the castle in such a hurry – because there might a clue there.

Nothing. Amy's letters and e-mails and pictures had been just as reluctant to reveal their secrets as the woman herself.

After a month he had sometimes found himself gazing out the high windows, wondering if she was out there.

When two months had passed, Monkey Fist had felt severely tempted to ring her with some lame excuse just to find out what she was doing.

After three months of complete silence from her end, he had found himself wondering if he couldn't accidentally run into her so that he could find out what she was planning. He had tried to keep himself busy with his work and martial arts training, but it was impossible to do anything properly when he kept thinking about Amy.

Then he had heard about the villain convention. She would have to be there; she always went to every social gathering that would let her in. He had been a little worried about seeing her again after such a long silence – this was exactly what he had wanted, right? – but he had decided that it was for the best to just confront her and find out what her plan was. She had to have a massive trap prepared for him if it had taken this long to get it done.

So there he was, sitting at a table at the snack bar, nursing a cup of tea and keeping an eye on the other customers. So far there had been no sign of her, but he knew she would show up either when she got hungry or when someone told her that he was there. So far he had talked to Drakken, Dementor and that idiot Frugal Lugre. They all had such big mouths that soon enough Amy would hear about him.

An hour passed without anything happening. He got another cup of tea. It was surprisingly good for a little cafeteria like this. He had a brief chat with Shego who was fetching Drakken some chocolate muffins because she was tired of listening to him whine about that he was hungry, but most of the time he just sat alone with his thoughts.

She would have to show up soon, and then he could see the end of this frustrating uncertainty and tension that was bothering him. He could finally tell her to leave him alone again.

After some more time, he heard her high-pitched giggle behind his back. He didn't turn to look at the entrance because he wanted to pretend that he hadn't noticed her. She'd surely notice _him_ anyway.

"Oh, look! That's Monty!" she exclaimed. She wasn't alone.

"Maybe we should go somewhere else," her companion suggested in a gruff voice.

Killigan! Monkey Fist nearly turned around to see this odd pair, but he had just about enough self-control to appear as if he hadn't heard anything. It sounded like Killigan and Amy had come here on purpose and together. He hadn't known they were friends.

"Don't be silly. I'll just say hello. You can go ahead if you want to," Amy said.

"I'm not leaving ye alone with him. I'll wait here," Killigan said.

Amy laughed. "Oh, my big, buff knight in shining armor, eh? Don't worry; I'll be back soon," she said.

Monkey Fist pretended to be surprised when Amy skipped over to his table and took a seat without waiting for an invitation. He frowned at her, just like he had done countless times before, but now it was also partly because he was confused. Something was off here.

"What do you want?" he asked.

Amy was smiling at him, but she looked different. Her eyes were not shining with unquestionable adoration; she didn't look like she could barely stop herself from jumping at him, and she didn't try to reach over the table to take his hand. He now felt annoyed that he had even placed it there.

"You just haven't changed at all, have you, cutie?" she asked.

"What?" he asked, surprised by her question.

"But that's alright. I understand. Don't worry; I won't bother you for long. I think Duffie out there is getting impatient." Amy leaned closer and whispered to him, "I think he's jealous."

"What?" Monkey Fist asked again.

Amy, entirely oblivious to his confusion, continued, "Actually I want to apologize to you and thank you. I'm sorry I bugged you like that. It was so mean of me to act in such a way and throw myself at you when you weren't interested. And thanks for being honest with me. I don't think I would have ever got to this point if you hadn't."

"What point?" Monkey Fist asked. This wasn't going like he had expected at all!

"Oh, you haven't heard? Duffie and I are dating!" Amy declared.

Monkey Fist felt his jaw fall open. Those two were together? When had that happened? And why? Amy loved him, didn't she? Why would she suddenly get interested in someone like Killigan of all people?

He turned to look over his shoulder. The golfer was standing there at the entrance, glaring suspiciously at the two of them.

Monkey Fist turned back to Amy.

"Oh. That's wonderful," he said lamely.

Amy giggled. "Isn't it? He's such an adorable cutie! And to think that I would have never realised that if you hadn't rejected me so firmly that one time. But don't worry; I'm no longer upset. It was for the best," she said.

"Right," Monkey Fist said, still a little too stunned to form complex sentences.

"But I need to go. Duffie wants to buy me lunch, and I think he wants to go to some other place." Amy said and stood up.

"Bye, Monty!"

He watched how she half-ran to Killigan and how he put a protective arm over her shoulder. She leant closer to give him a kiss on the cheek.

Monkey Fist frowned to himself and wondered why he suddenly didn't feel like finishing his tea.

**003: This cancels out the hurt**

DNAmy sniffled as she looked up at the petrified form of her love. She hadn't wanted to believe it when Kim and Ron had come to tell her about Monkey Fist's fate. It had taken her almost a week to even consider that it could be true, and she had been filled with doubts and desperate hope all the way to Japan.

She hadn't really believed it until she had dug up the statue and seen him herself. She had needed only one look at his face to realise that, yes, it really was him, and he was gone.

It pained her to look at his features, forever frozen in a silent scream of such horror and fear that she would have given anything if she could have made him feel better. She had tried to touch him, but that had been the first and last time. He was cold and hard against her skin.

She wiped her eyes and wondered what to do now. Her Monty was gone forever.

He would never whisper loving words into her ear.

He would never wrap his arms around her and pull her close.

He would never smile at her.

He would never tell her to leave him alone because he was busy.

He would never hang up on her when she called him.

He would never yell at her.

He would never run away.

The shadow of a thoughtful smile crept on Amy's face. Maybe this wasn't such a bad thing after all.

**004: I need to want you**

No, it couldn't be. It just couldn't be! No!

Monkey Fist released a frustrated shriek and shoved the ancient tome off his desk, not caring about that the covers were torn off and the irreplaceable volume was damaged beyond repair. He grabbed a vase from the table next to him and hurled it at his bookshelf, relishing in the sound of it crashing into dozens of pieces and scattering all over the floor.

"It can't be! I refuse to accept this!" he raged and dashed over to the bookshelf, walking over the destroyed vase and not even noticing how the broken pieces dug into the bare skin of his mutated feet and made him bleed. He tore down volume after volume from the shelf, randomly opening them and browsing through pages without really reading any of them. He had memorised most of the passages, and he knew that there was nothing that could help him. He just couldn't stop looking because he simply could not accept the horrible truth that was staring him face to face.

When there were no more books on the shelf, he collapsed on top of the pile of tomes like a ragdoll. His breathing was laboured and desperate, like he was in so much pain that it was difficult to get enough air into his lungs.

He couldn't believe this. It was too cruel to be true.

Monkey Fist could still remember the utter relief and triumph that had followed when he had realised that someone had brought him back from his stone state. He hadn't exactly been conscious as a statue, but he had somehow been aware of what had happened to him, like he had been drifting in and out of an endless, dark dream. The sensation of simply being able to see, move and breathe again had been exhilarating, and he had felt like he was the happiest man in the world. He had had no idea what would quickly follow.

He hadn't noticed it at first. He had been too busy trying to avoid Amy and to attack Stoppable. He still didn't know all the details, but somehow Amy had managed to convince Team Possible to help her to bring him back. According to Amy, it was because they had seen that their love was meant to be, but Monkey Fist suspected Kim and Ron had just grown tired of her bugging them all the time. He certainly had enough experience with _that._

He didn't really know how they had done it, but Yamanouchi and Sensei had been involved. And that horrible little baby who had ruined his life. Under other circumstances, Monkey Fist might have been fascinated by the ritual and done extensive research on it, but he didn't care about that anymore.

Whatever the spell had been like, it had done more than just released him from the stone curse of the Yono. It had also sucked him dry of Mystical Monkey Power.

Once he had recovered enough to realise this, he had spent a great deal of time and effort wailing about it and cursing everyone who had been involved. He had trashed everything he had got his hands on, screeched at Amy and tried to choke Ron, which had been a fruitless effort since the boy had now mastered the use of Mystical Monkey Power. He had promptly thrown him into the corner and told him that he should just be grateful they had even bothered to bring back someone like him.

Some more screaming and two broken ribs later he had calmed down long enough to decide that he would never give up. Never.

He had read through every book and scroll he owned, desperately trying to find a way to fix things. There had to be a way to get Mystical Monkey Power without the four jade statues. There had to be a way to steal the power from Ron who didn't deserve it in the first place.

He knew there wasn't. It pained him to admit it, but his vast library and years of studying Mystical Monkey Power couldn't help him. The power had been taken from him when he had got his life back, and there was nothing he could do about that.

He shuddered as another fresh wave of hatred washed over him, making him feel like someone else was suddenly in control of his body. "That pretender! I hate him!" he declared to the empty castle and jumped to his feet.

He didn't see where he was going nor did he care. He simply had to do something to burn the fiery hatred that he felt for Ron Stoppable. How dare that pathetic fool take what was meant to be his? How dare he then expect gratitude for what he had done? He had no right!

Monkey Fist grabbed the first object that he could get his hands on, it being a small chair, and hurled it away. One of the tall windows in the lounge was shattered as the chair flew outside; shards spread all over the floor.

"I hate him! I hate him!"

He didn't care about anything anymore. He tore down paintings and threw them away; he ripped the pictures he had once valued so much into shreds until his fingers were bleeding, but that didn't stop him. He pushed down every bookshelf and ripped off every page in every book. He destroyed every vase, every statue and every artefact. He shattered all the windows.

When there was nothing else left, he collapsed on the cold stone floor. He felt like he could barely breathe, and maybe some part of him thought that it would have been better if he had stopped altogether.

They should have never brought him back. He couldn't live without Mystical Monkey Power. He didn't want to.

What else was there for him? His career was in ruins. His family fortune was gone. His social status was non-existent. His family and friends, as few as they were, hated him. He could no longer communicate with his monkey ninjas. All he had left was a massive criminal record and too many broken dreams. Nobody in the world would care if he died.

Well, with the exception of one person.

Monkey Fist tried to find it in himself to feel hate or disgust at DNAmy, but he no longer had any strength for that. It didn't matter. Having her run after him was nothing but a minor annoyance now.

The floor sent a chill through him, and he realised that he should have got up. The big fireplaces of the castle hadn't been properly used in months, so the old heap of stones was frozen to its core. He would catch a cold if he stayed there.

He didn't know how long he lied on the floor. It got dark at some point, but he didn't really pay attention since he felt too tired to keep his eyes open. He wished he could sink back to the oblivion of being a stone statue. Then he wouldn't constantly have to think about what he had lost and how his life no longer held any meaning for him.

He could have ended it right there, he realised. The castle was filled with weapons and he was sure he had some poison stashed somewhere as well. It would have been a fitting end for him; dying all alone in his castle, unnoticed and unmissed by anyone because he had driven everyone away in his quest for power and hadn't benefited from it at all.

Maybe he should just get up and be done with it. The sooner the better.

Monkey Fist opened his eyes. It was night, but moonlight was pouring in through the broken windows, casting everything in silvery light that enabled him to see before him. He sat up, groaning at the stiffness and ache in his muscles. How long had he been there?

He got to his feet and regarded the room with a hard look before he went to pick up a piece of a broken window. It was long and sharp, almost like a knife. He fingered the sharp tip. He would need only one deep slice at his throat and that would be it.

Monkey Fist hesitated. He knew it was pointless; there was no reason for him to go on. It would be for the best if he just ended his miserable existence right now.

The shard or glass was almost too smooth against his skin for him to feel it. He turned it over in his hands. He had the courage to do it. He had the reasons to do it, and he had the means to do it. Why was he still alive?

He put the shard away, feeling disgusted with himself. Even now, after he had lost everything, he was simply too stubborn to give up. Taking his own life would have meant admitting what a failure he was, and he simply couldn't stomach the idea. But neither could he accept going on living with no purpose and feeling sorry for himself.

"I hate him," he said again, but with much less venom this time. Stoppable had taken everything from him, but even the thought of revenge couldn't get him excited. The boy would just use _his_ Mystical Monkey Power against him.

Was there anything else left for him? He had nothing and nobody. Well, that wasn't quite right. His thoughts were again turned to Amy. She was also to blame for what had happened to him. She had been the one who had wanted to bring him back. Having revenge on her would be much easier than trying to kill Stoppable, but he wasn't sure if it would make him feel any better. She was merely an idiot and had nothing to do with Mystical Monkey Power. She would never understand.

She would probably be ecstatic if he went to her. He grimaced in disdain. The last thing he needed was wasting his time with someone who was so annoying, so loud, so ignorant of what he wanted and so in love with him. She was so pathetic that it made him sick.

And yet he supposed that she was probably happy. Her love for him somehow made her satisfied with her life. He couldn't understand how that could be enough for her; it was so little and pitiful.

He looked around the destroyed lounge. The darkness around him seemed to be mocking him. He had once had so much, but it hadn't been enough and he had lost it all. Then there was Amy who had nothing he considered valuable but who was still content.

Suddenly the notion of spending the rest of his life all alone with his bitter thoughts felt unbearable. He loathed feeling sorry for himself; he had to find something to fill his empty life with. Anything that would give him a purpose.

Maybe he should ring Amy, just to prove the fact that someone in the world didn't think he was useless. He was desperate enough.

He didn't love her. He didn't even like her. Yet by some ironic twist of fate she was all that he had left. She was all that he could still claim as his own, whether he wanted or not. Drifting without direction felt almost frightening; he needed something to give him more.

Monkey Fist's head felt empty of thoughts as he walked over to the phone that had miraculously survived his tantrum.

"Hello?" a bright voice from the other end said.

Monkey Fist drew a shaky breath.

"Hello, Amy."

A loud squeal filled his ears, but he barely registered that. She was all that he still had. He could learn to… like her.

He _had_ to.

**005: You can be like me**

"For the last time, Amy, I will not wear that!"

"But you'd look so adorable in it! Can't you do it this one time, just for me?"

"No!"

Monkey Fist had one basic survival skill when it came to his girlfriend. He knew he could never stop her from fussing over everything that was pink or even remotely cute and that the only effective way to turn her into a semi-normal person was to make her have a lobotomy. Though it sometimes felt tempting, he wasn't ready to go that far. Yet.

No, what he had discovered to be a good way to deal with her was letting her blabber until she ran out of steam. He only nodded and kept listening to make sure she didn't get too carried away – like at the moment, for instance.

Amy was standing before his desk, holding an Otterfly costume of his size. The mere fact that she had been able to buy that thing and that it hadn't been custom-made made his mind boggle. Surely there couldn't be others who were unstable enough to be into this?

"Why not?" she asked.

He kept his eyes on the ancient tome on his desk. He knew she had to be giving him that sickeningly sad look that she tried to use every time she wanted to have her way. He rarely gave in.

"Because it would be the most humiliating experience of my life. I will not play dress-up as a Cuddle Buddy!" he snapped.

"It's called cosplay, honey," Amy said.

"Like I care," Monkey Fist muttered.

"But I would go as Pandaroo! I thought it would be a great idea that we'd go to the Cuddle Buddy convention together. I already got the tickets," Amy insisted.

Monkey Fist gritted his teeth at the thought that she had again just assumed that she knew what he wanted, but he managed to keep the profanities inside him. He knew that he, too, had the tendency to get overexcited about something, so it would be healthy not to get too hypocritical.

"I can come to the convention, but I will not wear the costume. It's ridiculous," he said.

"It's not ridiculous! It's something that matters a lot to me! And besides, everyone is laughing at you anyway!" Amy yelled at him.

Now he looked up from his work. "What?" he asked.

Amy put her hands on her hips and glared at him with blazing eyes. "If you ever came to the villain conventions instead of always sulking to yourself in some muddy rainforest, you'd know what the others think of you. You're just a joke to them!" she said.

"What do you mean?" he asked, this time with more force and anger in his tone.

"Well, what do you expect?" Amy asked and rolled her eyes. "I mean, a grown man dresses up like a ninja and lives with monkeys. And what schemes have you ever had? You break into museums like a common thief. What's that compared to Dementor's latest electro-dimensional power generator or Drakken's new take over the world plot? Everyone is always making jokes about you when you aren't there!"

For a while Monkey Fist could only stare at her with his mouth hanging open. He had never heard her say anything bad about him before, and he hadn't even thought it would be possible. She worshipped him, for crying out loud!

"I'm still not wearing the blasted costume!" he said to give himself some time to wrap his mind around her words. What she had said about the other villains couldn't possibly be true. She was just angry at him and was making things up to bother him. She had to be. Killigan would have told him if the others were talking about him behind his back.

"How would it be different from wearing that ninja outfit in public?" Amy asked.

"This doesn't make me look like a nitwit who never grew up. Honestly, why do you insist on making me wear that when you know perfectly well how I feel about it?" Monkey Fist shot back.

"Because I thought it would be fun to do something that I like for a change. You always tell me not to talk about Cuddle Buddies when we go out, you always leave when I have guests, and you're _always_ making snide remarks about me when I get excited about something I love," Amy ranted, her unhappy expression deepening until she was scowling at him like she was about to murder him.

Monkey Fist groaned. Arguing with Amy was so tiring that it was more draining than an afternoon's worth of training. It was impossible to banter with her because she always took everything to heart and said exactly what she thought. She had no idea how to be subtle.

He opened his mouth to tell her that one of them had to keep a clear head, but his words were muffled when the Otterfly costume came flying at his face.

"If you're so ashamed of me that you can't share my hobby this one time, maybe we should end this relationship right here!" Amy snapped and marched out of the room before Monkey Fist could say anything.

He threw the horrid costume aside and leaned back in his chair. That woman would drive him insane one day. It would have been one thing to ask him to publicly humiliate himself like that, but she had just assumed he would go along with it. Hadn't she learnt anything from the times when he had been running away from her because she couldn't get it into her head that he wasn't that enthusiastic about her?

He didn't like it that she was upset; she was always a handful when she was feeling hurt, but he couldn't see what else he could have done. He would be the laughing stock of the entire world if he went along with her stupid, irrational and embarrassing Cuddle Buddy infatuation. The last thing he wanted was to encourage her.

In fact, he had been hoping that he would be able to persuade her to stop collecting the blasted toys and keep a little distance to her collector friends. It was an abnormal hobby, and he was certain that their life would have been much easier if Amy's obsession hadn't been hindering them like this.

He took one glance at the Cuddle Buddy costume on the floor. Shaking his head with disgust, he returned to reading his tome.

* * *

Amy didn't speak a single word to him when he came to bed that night. Monkey Fist could tell she was still awake, but she was doing her best to pretend that she had fallen asleep. He frowned in annoyance. Amy didn't usually stay mad for that long. It usually took just one sweet word to make her forget they had ever even had an argument.

Well, he wasn't going to offer it this time. She could deal with her bad mood herself until she understood that she couldn't push him around.

"Well, don't you have anything to say?" Amy finally asked after about ten minutes of complete silence between them.

"What do you want me to say?" Monkey Fist asked, staring at the ceiling.

"An apology would be nice," Amy snapped.

"For what? For refusing to let you make a fool out of me?"

"For not thinking about my feelings at all!"

"Your feelings? What about mine? Why do you try to force me into something I don't want?"

Amy finally turned around. It was too dark to see her face properly, but Monkey Fist thought he could feel the burn of her glare on his skin.

"You big meanie!" Amy snapped. "I always help you find good books for your research. I feed the monkey ninjas when you're too busy to think about anyone else but yourself. I lived a month with you in a treehouse with a leaking roof! I wait for you at home when you're somewhere having adventures and can't be bothered to call me! I've stopped creating adorable beasties that are too big for the castle, just because you didn't like them! What have you ever sacrificed for me?"

I don't need to sacrifice anything for anyone, was Monkey Fist's first thought, but he caught himself just in time before he blurted it out loud. That was exactly how he felt, but at the same time he could be objective enough to realise that it probably wasn't the right way to feel about it.

"Well?" Amy urged him.

"I already said I could come to the convention with you, but I'm not going to make a bigger fool of myself," he said, trying to come up with something important that he had ever done for Amy in the course of their relationship. It was turning out to be quite a short list.

Amy shook her head in irritation. "You just don't get it," she snapped and turned her back on him again.

* * *

Monkey Fist always woke up hours before Amy did. He usually started his morning practice right away and let her sleep, but this time he spent a moment examining her in her slumber. She was far from a pretty sight; her hair was a mess and her face was twisted in annoyance, like she couldn't let her anger at him go even when she was dreaming. He supposed he shouldn't expect her to have calmed down over the night.

He shook his head as he decided to leave the room. Amy was too childish and stubborn for her own good.

He was only about an hour into his training when a loud beep from the communication room caught his attention. Growling under his breath, he told his monkey ninjas to continue without him as he went to see who would bother them at such an early hour.

Monkey Fist had never been enthusiastic about high-tech communication systems. Phone and e-mail had always served him well, but Amy had insisted that they needed a large screen so that they could properly keep in touch with the other villains. Monkey Fist suspected that her true motivation was simply that she wanted to have long chat sessions with her friends, but he had let her buy the darned thing and install it.

If only it would be one of Amy's idiotic friends. Then he could just tell them to leave him alone and ring back later when she was awake.

Sadly, it turned out that his bad morning was just getting started.

"What do you want, Killigan?" he asked with a sigh when the face of the mad golfer appeared. Why had they got such a big screen in the first place?

"Nothing much. I just thought ye could help me out with this problem," Killigan said.

"What problem?" Monkey Fist asked.

Killian leant closer like they were accomplices. "I need help with a woman," he whispered.

"So why are you ringing me?"

"Och, don't be daft! I need ye to tell me how to make an impression!" Killigan snapped. "She's so pretty ye wouldn't believe! The finest lassie Scotland ever produced! But I'm a little rough on the edges, so I thought ye could help me out."

Monkey Fist felt like a headache was coming. The last thing he needed was to act as a romantic advisor to a mad golfer.

"What makes you think I would know what to do?" he asked.

"Tell me how ye got a fine woman like Amy. That'll help for starters," Killigan suggested.

"Oh, that was very easy."

"Yes?"

"I unbolted the door and said, 'Fine. I give up.'"

Killigan snorted. "Haha, that's a good one. But really, how did ye get together?"

"I already told you," Monkey Fist said, crossing his arms on his chest. "And if you really have nothing worthwhile to say, I would like to continue with my training."

Killigan, unfortunately, didn't take the hint. He frowned at the simian man in utter bafflement and scratched his bearded chin.

"But that can't be! Ye must have done something to make her like ye! Did ye bring her flowers?" he asked.

"No, I've never done that."

"Sweets?"

"No."

"How often do ye take her dancing or to theatre?"

"Just about never."

"Candlelight dinners?"

"No."

"When was the last time you said you love her?"

Monkey Fist said nothing. It was enough of a reply for Killigan.

"Och, I don't see why she's staying with ye. Keep treating her like that and she'll leave," the golfer said.

"No, she won't!" Monkey Fist snapped. He didn't feel like talking with Killigan any longer, so he moved his finger to the disconnect button as he said, "And if I were you, I'd take that lady friend of yours golfing because that's all you're going to be doing if you miraculously get together, so the least you can do is properly prepare her for such a dull lifetime!"

After the screen went black in the middle of Killigan's angry exclamation, Monkey Fist remained sitting there, fuming to himself about the nerve of the Scottish golfer. What right did he have to make assumptions about anyone else's life? He was clearly in the wrong and understood nothing about him and Amy. She wasn't going to leave him. She loved him more than anything else in the world. If she didn't, why would she have chased after him for so long without giving up regardless of what he did or said to keep her away? She had to love him. He was a master of Tai Shing Pek Kwar, destined to be the Ultimate Monkey Master, highly intelligent and educated in mystical arts and… well…

Monkey Fist tapped his chin in thought. It suddenly occurred to him that though his list of good qualities was positively long, most of those qualities probably didn't appeal to Amy. She was soft; she loved romance and cuddling and everything sweet that he found bothersome. They had entirely different ideas about how to have a good time; they had no friends together, and they mostly tolerated but didn't understand each other's interests.

Maybe Killigan had raised a good question. Why exactly did Amy love him when he provided her with none of what she expected in a relationship? When he thought about it a little longer, he realised that there was the small chance that Amy might get bored with him. He knew that sometimes the hunt was more satisfying than the prey. Now that she had him, she might realise that he was not all that she had wanted.

"She can't leave me," he muttered to himself. If someone was going to end the relationship, it would be him. Nobody left _him._ If Amy did it, it would be too severe of a humiliation for him. Even worse, she might go to Killigan. The golfer seemed to have taken a liking to women like her. If Amy actually dumped him for a man who went to public wearing a skirt and waving golf clubs around, the other villains would start laughing at his face instead of keeping it behind his back.

And to be perfectly honest, he might miss her. A little. When he had nothing to occupy himself with.

He thought back to what Amy had said the previous day and how she hadn't calmed down at all. She was rarely this angry. Maybe he should have treated her a little better. Maybe he should take her more into consideration in the future.

But how? He couldn't really even talk to her properly before she calmed down. After all the things they both had said the previous day, he didn't think it was about to happen any time soon.

Monkey Fist got up and walked to his study. The Otterfly costume was still lying on the floor. He picked it up carefully like it was a filthy rag worn by someone who had just died of the plague and eyed it with a nauseated grimace on his face.

He sighed like a man who had just accepted his death sentence. It would probably be a good idea to confiscate the monkey ninjas' camera.


	2. Six to Ten

Number eight is a prequel to number four from the previous chapter.

**ME MONTY, YOU AMY**

**006-010**

**006: I want to need you**

"Don't you think that's a little… I don't know, freaky?" Adrena Lynn asked.

DNAmy tore her eyes from the stone statue she had been admiring up until now and turned to look at the blonde woman beside her.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

Adrena shrugged. "Well, I figured you just brought him here to give him his final rounds at Drakken's award ceremony, but it looks to me more like you're dating him or something," she said.

"He's my boyfriend," Amy stated. Well, technically he wasn't since he had never actually agreed to that despite her numerous attempts at trying to change his mind. However, he wasn't going to say no now that he was in that state, so she might just as well take what little good was about the situation and enjoy it.

"He's a statue," Adrena pointed out. "I've done some freaky things over the years, but never hooked up with a guy who can't talk or move. Isn't that a little boring?"

Amy frowned defensively. Maybe her Monty was a little handicapped by this recent turn of events, but that didn't mean people could just go and talk whatever they wanted about him and their relationship. He had to have feelings somewhere deep that stone shell. _She_ certainly had feelings, and she didn't like it when people ridiculed her for her choice in love.

"Maybe he can't kiss me or cuddle with me or tell me what he thinks of my new Cuddle Buddies, but that doesn't mean I'm going to abandon him. He's the only man I've seriously wanted. I've got to stand by his side now," she replied.

"He's as good as dead, Amy. There's no point," Adrena said.

"He's not dead! Don't say such mean things!" Amy snapped.

Adrena sighed and took a sip of coffee to collect her thoughts. Amy kept glaring at her all this time, challenging her to say something more about her and her cuddle monkey. Adrena was the closest person to a friend she had among the villains, but she was sometimes too blunt and rash for Amy's liking. It was a probably a leftover from her ruined career as a reality TV star.

She glanced at Monty when Adrena didn't start talking again right away. Amy didn't show it, but it hurt her every time she had to look at that terrified expression on the face of the simian man. She would have given anything if she could have brought him back and hugged him until he was no more tortured by pain or fear, but the old man from the ninja school had told her that it was impossible. There was no way to bring Monkey Fist back without also releasing the powers of the Yono, and that was a risk the ninjas wouldn't allow her to take.

I've got to be strong, she thought. Monkey Fist was the man of her life. It was true that she liked flirting with pretty much every man who happened to be in the same room with her, but that didn't mean anything. Those times were just games. There was room for only one man in her heart. She didn't want anyone else.

"You have no idea what he means to me," she said, though she didn't know if she was really directing her words to Adrena.

"Come on, Amy. You never even went out with him. You barely met him after you fixed his hands and feet," Adrena pointed out. A frustrated tone had crept into her voice and she sounded like she was ready to start running her hand through her short hair.

"But I love him! Even if he never said it, I know he must have loved me back," Amy insisted. How could Adrena not understand this? Surely she knew what love meant.

"How would you feel if something bad happened to Ed? Would you just abandon him?" she asked.

Adrena sighed. "I don't know. Probably not if he got hurt in an accident. If he died, I'd move on after a while, no matter how hard it might be. Seriously," she said.

"But I know that Monty isn't dead," Amy said, stealing another glance at the petrified form of the man. How could she just move on with the knowledge that there was a small chance that he might come back one day? It would crush him to see that she hadn't waited for him.

"This isn't healthy! You can't keep pining for a stone statue!" Adrena snapped. "Find a real man and go out on date!"

"I don't want anyone else! It wouldn't be the same," Amy argued. No other man had ever made her feel like Monkey Fist had. Even when he had only spat insults at her and tried to keep her away, she had felt happier than ever before. There was a connection between them; she was sure of it, and nobody else could ever fill the hole that he had left in her life.

She wasn't even sure if she wanted to try. It just felt pointless.

"I love my cuddle monkey too much," she said.

"Och, can't ye two lassies cut it out? That much romance mushy mash is making me sick!" Killigan snapped from the table right behind them.

"You meanie! You have no right to listen to other people's conversation," Amy scolded him, turning around on her chair to glare daggers at the Scottish golfer.

"It's hard not to hear ye when ye keep yelling like that. I can hear ye better than Dementor over there," Killigan said.

"Then move to another table if it's bothering you," Amy said.

"Or ye could keep your voice down," Killigan grumbled.

"You're just jealous that I have someone and you're sitting here alone," Amy countered.

Killigan rolled his eyes. "Och, please! Everyone knows that monkey boy isn't coming back. Ye're just deluding yerself," he said.

Amy was about to snap that he had no idea what he was talking about, but Adrena took her hand and made her turn to look at her. There was a firm look in the blonde woman's eyes as she held Amy's hand in a tight grip.

"It's not worth it," she said. "And he has a point."

"But --"

"Amy, don't be an idiot. Monkey Fist is gone. If you think that he really loved you under all that resistance, then don't you think he'd want you to move on and find happiness with someone else? You can't keep the statue," Adrena said.

Amy couldn't look at her friend, but just one glance at Monkey Fist was equally painful. She turned her eyes on the table instead, feeling an unfamiliar sense of defeat take over her. Logically speaking, Adrena was perfectly right. She couldn't love a statue. It was just that her heart refused to accept that she had lost her love. She was so used to loving Monkey Fist that the idea of moving on seemed almost frightening. Who could she love after losing someone like him? It would be so much safer to cling on to his memory, be happy and never take a risk again in her life.

"Look. You don't have to let go right away, but you've got to start sometime. The first step is that you take statue somewhere you don't have to see it all the time," Adrena said.

"Him. He's a person."

"Yeah, whatever. Let me take the statue. I'll find some nice place for… him," her friend said.

"I feel like that would be abandoning him," Amy said.

"You aren't. He's gone. You can go on without him."

Amy finally lifted her eyes from the table and looked at Adrena. It hurt to think about that she would give Monty away. Then again, she didn't know what she would have done with him anyway. Maybe she could have put him in the living room, but somehow that felt like a bad idea now. He wouldn't like it there.

He probably wouldn't like it in her garden either. Amy could already imagine what her genetically altered pigeons would do to him. Her laboratory was a bad choice as well. He had hated it back when she had worked on his hands and feet and complained about how unnatural a place it was.

"Amy?"

"Maybe later… Do you think we could take him to his castle? We could put him in the library," she said.

Adrena smiled in relief. "Sure, why not? He fits right into that freaky place," she said.

Amy said nothing. She wondered if this was what people whose loved ones were in a coma felt like.

**007: Prove it**

Junior spread some more hair gel on his fingers and ran his hand through his hair to make it perfectly slick and shiny and to make sure that no strand would escape loose during his performance. He was a star, and stars had to appear picture perfect no matter what happened and meet the expectations of their faithful admirers.

He took one final look at himself in the mirror, musing that the orange prison uniform didn't quite compliment his skin tone. Hmm, he would have to do some more tanning when his father's lawyers got them out.

"Oh, well. I hope the spotlights will make me look better," he said to himself.

The door to his make-shift dressing room was opened. Junior grimaced at the lack of manners.

"Please, Mr. Guard. Could you at least knock when you enter my dressing room?" he asked.

"There's a woman to see you," the guard said in a grumpy voice, no doubt pissed off beyond belief that the rich boy got to order him around because his daddy had money.

Junior whirled around. "A fan!" he exclaimed enthusiastically. However, his grin died when DNAmy stepped in.

"Oh," he said in disappointment. "I thought my fangirls would be younger and thinner. And more beautiful."

DNAmy shot him a dark glare but didn't start an argument with him. Junior didn't exactly know her that well. He was only aware that she was one of those cuckoo scientist villains his father respected but didn't want to associate with because they didn't have much class. Junior cared about the other villains even less because he really didn't have much interest in that form of business.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I want to make a request," Amy said.

"Really? Maybe I can manage that. What do you want?" Junior asked. Sure, maybe she wasn't a shrieking fangirl of barely legal age with the body of a model, but she was better than nothing. There weren't that many women in this prison, and he figured that even super multi-talents destined for greatness like him had to start humble.

"Could you please sing Quit Playing Games with My Head? There's someone in the audience whom I love very much, and I think he's having some commitment issues. I know he loves me back, but he hasn't been able to say it to me yet," Amy explained with a dreamy look in her black eyes.

Junior had no idea who she could be talking about. Then again, he wasn't really interested in the lives of people who weren't him or the person who brought him those lovely little drinks when he snapped his fingers, so that was no surprise. Still, he was a little surprised that he hadn't seen the signs of this blossoming romance. Gossip was really the only half-decent form of entertainment in prison.

"Sure, no problem," he said. He had been about to sing that song anyway because it was one of his favourites.

"Oh, thank you so much! This will make my cuddle monkey so happy!" Amy squealed and wrapped her arms around his muscular form to give him a bone-crushing hug. Junior cringed and was about to motion for the guard to come and help him, but then he figured that he would have to get used to this once he became an international pop sensation.

* * *

Monkey Fist was not particularly enthusiastic about listening to Senior's brain dead son give a concert, but it gave him an extra hour out of his cell, so he supposed that he might be able to tolerate it. It was just too bad they had made him sit next to Killigan. He already had to endure the man's rants about golf every lunch hour. He just hoped that the empty seat on his other side would be taken by someone he could at least half stand.

"I'm sure you will truly enjoy this concert, Lord Fiske. I am very proud of my son's achievements," Señor Senior Senior said behind him.

"Oh, I'm sure it will be a real treat," Monkey Fist drawled as he turned back to look at the old man. Boy band music. Oh, joy.

"He has already made a fan and he hasn't even started yet!" Senior proclaimed, but his happy smile soon turned into a worried frown. "I just hope that Ms. Hall won't try anything indecent. I don't want my son to fall for his first fan."

Monkey Fist snorted. "Only someone with barely half a brain could fall for Amy," he said. He paused to frown and then cracked a sly smile at Senior. "Then again, this is your son we're talking about."

"I don't appreciate that attitude, Lord Fiske. Junior may not be the smartest man in the world, but he has real talent, and I'm sure I can train a true villain out of him," Senior said with a disapproving frown.

"Good luck with that," Killigan piped up.

"For once I agree with the golfer," Monkey Fist said.

"You gentlemen have no idea what you're talking about. You'll see how wrong you are when Junior has given his performance," Senior scolded them.

Monkey Fist would have liked to quip something about that, but that was when the guards started letting more prisoners into the yard and the seats between him and the old man began to fill up. He didn't fancy the idea of shouting over the heads of common burglars and other low-lifes, so he turned back to stare in contempt at the spot where Junior would be singing.

He glanced at the empty seat beside him. Maybe he'd get lucky for once and nobody would –

"Yoo-hoo! Honey bunny!"

Monkey Fist groaned to himself and covered his face in his hands. He was just about to turn to Killigan and beg the man to trade seats with him when Amy made her way to him and took her place.

"Who let you sit here? Shouldn't you be over there with Shego?" Monkey Fist asked.

"I talked to the guards. They were really nice and saved me a spot here," Amy said.

"Looks like my bribe money has run out," Monkey Fist muttered.

"Aww, don't be so grumpy! We're going to have so much fun. I think Junior is really good!" Amy said and tried to grab his hand, but he pulled it away from her reach just in time. He could hear the other villains snicker at him to his right, and even his darkest glare couldn't get them to shut up.

"Keep your hands off me!" he snapped.

Thankfully, Amy seemed to get the hint for once. "I wish you weren't so shy about being affectionate in public. There's nothing to be ashamed of in showing your feelings," she said.

"Yeah, monkey boy! Go on and kiss her!" Killigan prompted.

Making a mental note to kill Killigan later when they were alone, Monkey Fist crossed his arms on his chest. He hoped the stupid concert would already start so that it would be over with and he could go back to his cell. It was amazing how the presence of one annoying woman could make him desire that cramped closet of a room that he usually loathed.

It looked like someone was listening to his wishes and desired to ease his misery somewhat because in the next instant, the young man entered with two guards who were leading him. The self-satisfied smile on Junior's face told him that he wasn't at all bothered by the presence of the men.

He probably sees them as his body guards, Monkey Fist thought.

The simian man formed his opinion of the concert exactly thirty seconds after it had begun. The music was even more horrendous than he had been expecting, containing such idiotic lyrics that one would have to be brain-dead teenage girl to like them. The music was meaningless and unimaginative and was starting to give him a headache. Even before the first song had ended, he had started to meditate in order to tune it out.

His concentration was only broken when Amy suddenly gave him a painful punch to his side. He turned to glare at her as he rubbed his stomach, wondering just what had got to her. He saw that her face was glowing with expectation; her eyes looked like they were about to jump out of their sockets and the smile on her lips was almost splitting her face.

He became aware of that Junior was not singing anymore. The man was speaking about something to the audience.

"And so it will be my honour to dedicate this song to a man in the audience. I hope it will help him see that he should stop running away and give in to his feelings," Junior said.

"What?" Monkey Fist asked of nobody in particular. He turned to look back at Amy. Had she…? No. Certainly she wouldn't. Or maybe she would. Oh yes, she most definitely would. That grin on her face revealed everything.

"Now listen closely, honey bunny. This is a very, very good song," she whispered to him as the music started.

Did he even want to know what song she had requested?

"Quit playing games with my head…"

Oh, terrific.

**008: I'm cruel**

"Are you certain you wish to do this?" Sensei asked.

Amy nodded. "Yes," she said firmly.

"Even though you realise what the possible consequences are?"

This time it took Amy a little longer to answer the old man. She turned to look at Monkey Fist's petrified form and wondered if she really was doing the right thing. It pained her to look at him when his face was frozen in horror like that and his hands stretching out, as if he was pleading for help. She desperately wanted him back, even if he wouldn't return her love.

"Yes," she said again, despite everything that Sensei had told her.

"Are you really sure about that, Amy? I mean, would he really want it?" Ron asked.

"Why wouldn't he?" Amy challenged him in a snappy voice. They were going to bring him back from a fate more horrible than death. Why would her cuddle monkey hesitate even for a moment? This was what everyone would have chosen regardless of the price. This had to be what he wanted.

"Why would anyone want to stay like that?" she asked when Ron didn't immediately offer a reply.

The boy rubbed the back of his neck in uncertainty and glanced at the petrified form of his arch enemy. It had taken Amy quite some time and effort to make him and Kim even listen to her proposal. She had pleaded for them to help her return her Monty to normal until they had finally given in and agreed to ask Sensei about it. Amy knew there was some bad blood between Monty and the two heroes, but she couldn't understand their hesitation. Why wouldn't everyone want him back?

"You know how much Mystical Monkey Power means to him," Ron finally said. "I get the feeling that he'd rather not come back if it meant losing it."

Amy bit her lip. Ron had a point. She knew exactly how much Monty loved the ancient power. Deep inside her, she probably knew that he loved it more than he would ever love her, but that was not something she was ready to admit. Mystical Monkey Power was all that seemed to matter to her love, and it had been ever worse for the past year.

It was like he had gone truly mad with his desperation to be the only one who controlled it. He had yelled horrible things at her whenever she had tried to reach out to him. Whenever he had bothered to say something actual to her, he had always babbled about some secret weapon that he was after.

"We don't know what will happen. You said it's not certain that he will lose the power," Amy said, turning to look at Sensei again.

The old man nodded. "True, but it is very likely. The only way to release him from the curse of the Yono is to use a very powerful spell that will cleanse his entire being of all magic he has ever come to contact with. He will probably never be able to use any magic in his life," he said.

"It's still better than being stone for all eternity," Amy insisted.

It had to be. She knew Monty would have never wanted a fate like that for himself, even if it probably stroked his ego somewhat there was an indestructible statue of him for others to admire. He considered himself too important to be sealed away forever, and she was certain he wouldn't have wanted all of his dreams to an end like this. It would be just evil to leave him be a statue.

"I agree with Amy," Kim pointed out from Ron's side. "Besides, if he really will lose all of his powers, he will be harmless. There is nothing for us to worry about."

"He's still a ninja. Even worse, a ninja who tried to kill Hana," Ron said, frowning as he thought back to the dark memories.

"I'm sure he didn't mean to," Amy said. Monty couldn't hurt something as innocent and adorable as a baby.

"Don't get me wrong, Ron. I don't miss him any more than you do. I just don't think even he deserves this. He should be locked up in prison for what he has done," Kim said.

Ron sighed. "I guess you're right, KP. It's just that… I… I really hate him. He let the Yono turn you into stone. For a while I thought I had lost you," he said.

"We've gone over this. I'm still here," Kim said. She took his hand and squeezed it with an encouraging smile.

Amy felt a pang of jealousy as she watched the couple. She would have given anything if Monty had looked at her like that just once in her life. Just having him there and knowing that he cared for her was all that she wanted, but it was like everyone wanted to deny it from her. Monty said he didn't like her; Team Possible kept arresting him, and now he had been turned into stone and taken from her forever. It just wasn't fair.

"So, it is decided," Sensei said, making Amy turn away from the two crime fighters.

"Yes, I want it done," she said.

Sensei nodded. "Very well. Everything will be prepared in time for tonight," he said.

The old man left to take care of the preparations. Kim and Ron didn't really have much to say to her, so they also exited the small side room, leaving Amy alone with Monkey Fist's statue. She gazed up at him with a hopeful smile.

"Don't worry, honey bunny. It'll be over soon," she said.

Sensei had told her that Monkey Fist was most likely not conscious in that state and that for him it had to feel like sleeping. Amy hoped that was the case because the alternative was simply too horrifying to imagine, but at the same time the thought of a peaceful slumber made her feel an uncomfortable knot in her stomach. If he wasn't suffering at all, was it right to bring him back to life and take from him what he valued the most?

The obvious answer was yes. As she had told Ron, nobody in their right mind would have preferred following the Path of the Yono. But… Monkey Fist wasn't exactly a man with a normal state of mind. Though it saddened her, Amy knew that he probably would have chosen death over a life without Mystical Monkey Power.

Ron was only afraid of their most dangerous enemy coming back, but his doubts had made Amy realise something else. If she really wanted to make her Monty happy, she probably would have let him remain a statue, blissfully unaware of what had happened to him. It was the right thing to do. Nothing could be gained by bringing him back to a life that would make him miserable.

Yet Amy knew she would never let things remain like this. She needed to have him back. She couldn't live without him. Even if he only ran from her again, she could at least see him, hear his voice and touch him. He would be there.

She reached up to caress his stone cheek. "I'm sorry, but I need you," she said sadly. It didn't matter how much it would hurt him to lose Mystical Monkey Power. She had to have him back.

**009: Always wondered what this'd be like**

"Now, let's see where the bananas are," Amy said as she looked around the massive fruit section at the local Smarty Mart. There were aisles upon aisles filled with exotic and colourful vegetables and fruits, most of them so obscure that the majority of the customers couldn't have named them.

Monkey Fist wasn't very impressed by this display. "I prefer getting them straight from the trees," he said and picked up an apple to give it a critical frown. "These things are filled with chemicals."

"I know, but we aren't in Guatemala at the moment. We'll just have to do with what we have," Amy said.

"My monkeys might not be able to digest that. I don't want to see months of training go to waste," Monkey Fist objected.

"Stop complaining. You said it yourself that they can survive anything," Amy replied.

"True, but --" Monkey Fist started, but he was interrupted when Amy grabbed his arm and started dragging him behind her.

"Now come on and help me do some shopping!"

Monkey Fist growled under his breath but didn't resist too much. He had learnt that life with Amy was much easier if he let her have her way when it came to trivial things like grocery shopping and occasional snuggle when he was reading and she watching TV. She would in turn back down when he said he wanted to be alone or that he really, really didn't feel like spending the afternoon kissing and cuddling on the sofa.

"Let's be quick then. I cannot stand this place," he muttered.

"Why not? We can get everything we need here. Smarty Mart is wonderful," Amy said. They had found the bananas and she loaded their cart with three full boxes of them. The monkey ninjas didn't look like it, but they could be done with a mountain of bananas in just one day.

"For one thing, I think it's idiotic to show our face in public when we're both wanted criminals!" Monkey Fist snapped. He kept glancing around, but nobody was looking at them suspiciously. It was like everyone was so occupied with their own pitiful lives that they failed to recognise two international criminals. He hadn't even bothered to cover his hands and feet, and he still wasn't getting any stares.

"Don't worry. Drakken and Shego come here all the time," Amy said.

"The last thing I want is to be associated with those two."

They were now done with the fruit section, so Amy decided they had to move along. The two of them had just arrived from Monkey Fist's castle in England to spend some time at Amy's place before going to a villain convention that would be held in Las Vegas. Her home was devoid of all food that wasn't dried, so the first thing she had wanted to do was drop by Smarty Mart so that she could cook them something.

Monkey Fist hated stores like this. Even though it had been a while since Bates had left, he still detested doing his own shopping. This was especially the case when he had to do it in a place that had no class, no quality control of his expectations and where they let just about anyone in. He would have liked to stay at Amy's place with the monkeys, but she had insisted that he should come. She had said it was the perfect opportunity for them to do something fun together.

"Can't you make it faster?" he asked after Amy had been thinking over what sort of cheese she would like for several minutes.

"Hush now, honey bunny. Which would you rather have?" she asked, but Monkey Fist couldn't be bothered to reply.

Suddenly he felt something grab his foot. He looked down.

No. It couldn't be!

"You!" he blurted out.

"Aww! A baby!" Amy exclaimed.

* * *

"I can't believe we lost Hana!" Ron moaned as he had his face covered in his hands. "My parents will kill me!"

"Calm down, Ron. We'll find her," Kim assured him.

"How? This Smarty Mart just got extended last week! It's bigger than three soccer fields! Look!" Ron panicked and shoved a leaflet about the bigger and better electronics section at Kim's face. She pushed his hand down with a sigh and took it to stop him from hyperventilating.

"We'll just have to go back the way we came. She's a baby. She can't have got far," she reasoned.

"But it's Hana! My baby sister! What will I do if we can't find her?" Ron asked.

Kim was worried, too, but she knew that someone had to keep a clear head and be in charge of the situation. Besides, this was just a big, big store. It wasn't like Hana could run into anything too dangerous. Most people would probably notice a lone baby and take her to the staff so that she wouldn't be hurt.

"Maybe we should ask the staff to make an announcement about this? Then all the other customers will know to keep their eyes open," she suggested.

"That's actually a pretty good idea," Ron said and stopped wailing for a moment. The two of them made their way to the office where they found the manager. They quickly explained the situation to him and asked if he would be able to help them.

"I'd love to, but I'm afraid that's impossible," the manager said.

"What do you mean?" Kim asked.

The manager cleared his throat in embarrassment. "You see, there was an accident when we were expanding the store and the loudspeakers got damaged. We're working on it as we speak, but at the moment it's impossible to play any commercials or announce anything," he said.

"Then how are we going to find my sister?" Ron asked, the panic creeping back into his voice.

"Don't worry. I'll alert all staff members and tell them to start looking for her," the manager promise.

Kim grabbed Ron's hand. "Come on! Let's follow our tracks. Hana must be somewhere this way," she said and started dragging him back the way they had come.

"Now, what aisles did we pass on our way?" Ron wondered out loud. Then he gulped as he remembered. "The knife section… and the gardening section with lawnmowers and scythes… and the circular saws!"

Kim frowned. Okay, that _did_ sound bad.

* * *

"Ooh, isn't she just the most adorable little thing?" Amy cooed as she held Hana in her arms and made faces at the baby. The little girl giggled with enthusiasm and clapped her hands together to get more funny reactions out of the woman. Monkey Fist needed all of his willpower to stop himself from snatching the girl from Amy's hands and snapping her neck.

"I hate that baby," he declared with so much scorching hatred that Amy stopped her little game for a while and turned to look at him.

"You shouldn't say that. Children can understand much more than they let on. The last thing we need is for you to damage her self-esteem at such a tender age," she scolded. She turned back to Hana and tickled her nose. "Isn't that right, sweetie? Hmm? Who's a cute baby?"

Monkey Fist rolled his eyes and groaned in disgust. It was just his luck that they would run into that horrible little monster who had ruined his perfect plan. Everything had been working wonderfully; Stoppable had been down and victory had been within his grasps… And then a mere toddler had defeated him in combat! That was the most humiliating experience of his life, only rivalled by that one sad incident at the boarding school.

"You can't keep her. She's Stoppable's adopted sister. They're going to find us any minute now," he said.

Amy sighed. "Maybe you're right, honey bunny. But what should we do with her? We can't just leave her alone. Did you see those circular saws back there? She could hurt herself," she said.

Monkey Fist spent a moment entertaining himself with thoughts of what he could do to Hana if he had a moment alone with her and machinery with very sharp bits, but he realised it wasn't a very practical idea. Certainly the other customers would be snapped out of their quiet indifference if he tried to kill a baby in front of them. And knowing Amy, she wouldn't just leave the baby and go on like nothing had happened.

With a sigh, he accepted the only other sensible option.

"We could drop her off at the office and ask the staff to make an announcement so that Team Possible knows where to pick her up," he said.

"That's a really good idea," Amy said, but she wasn't even looking at him as she spoke. She smiled at little Hana, evoking another giggle from the baby. "Let's go and see if we can find your brother, huh?"

"Do you have to make a fool of yourself like that?" Monkey Fist asked.

"I'm just talking to the baby."

"Exactly! It's embarrassing and stupid. It's not like she even understands what you say. Even more importantly, she's the sister of Ron Stoppable! You should hate her!" Monkey Fist snapped.

Amy frowned at him and took a step away, as if to protect Hana from his sudden outburst.

"That's a really mean attitude, honey bunny," she scolded him.

Monkey Fist simply huffed to himself and crossed his arms on his chest, glaring darkly at Hana who didn't seem to even notice that she was the target of someone's hatred. She was having the time of her life with Amy, giggling at everything the woman said and clapping her hands in order to encourage her. Every now and then she would turn to look at Monkey Fist with those big, black eyes of hers, but she always turned back away when he didn't provide her with any entertainment.

How did that baby defeat me, he wondered. It went against all forms of logic. She had none of the strength, skill, intelligence or motoric ability to throw a grown man to the ground. It was simply impossible! It was as if it was ma—

"Oh, here we are!" Amy said when they arrived at the office. She knocked on the door and the manager stepped out. Once Amy was done explaining the situation to him, he sighed in exasperation and ran his fingers through his hair.

"If only you had been here five minutes earlier. The teens who lost the baby just left," he said.

"In that case it shouldn't be difficult for you to announce that she's here now. We can just leave the baby here and --" Monkey Fist started in an impatient tone, but the manager cut him off.

"Sorry, sir, but no can do. We're experiencing some technical difficulties at the moment," he said.

"Such as?" Monkey Fist asked.

"Our loudspeakers aren't working right now. I'm afraid there's nothing we can do until the spare parts arrive from Lowerton."

"And here I thought this store was supposed to have everything in its selection," Monkey Fist muttered.

Amy grabbed his arm and squeezed it. "Honey bunny, don't be mad at the man. It's not his fault," she said.

"In any case, the baby stays here. We're in a hurry," Monkey Fist said, snatched Hana from Amy's arms and was about to shove him to the store manager. The man backed away with what looked like slight panic in his eyes and hid his hands behind his back.

"I'm not very fond of babies," he said.

"Well neither am I," Monkey Fist said. He couldn't believe he was even discussing this with the man. It was the manager's responsibility to take the blasted baby off their hands and let them go back to minding their own business. Then again, since this involved finishing grocery shopping with Amy, it wasn't really likely that there would be an improvement of any sort.

"Oh, you two," Amy huffed and took Hana from Monkey Fist. "Can't you see that she's just a cute little bundle?"

"Who happens to be the sister of our enemy!" Monkey Fist snapped.

"But we can't leave a baby on her own. She could get hurt," Amy argued.

"After what I've been through because of her, that would be just too good to be true," Monkey Fist said.

Amy shook her head. "You speak like she has done something terrible to you," she pointed out.

Monkey Fist opened his mouth to say that she had, but he realised just in time that maybe he didn't want to tell anyone that Hana had defeated him with such ease outside the red shrine. His monkey ninjas had been down, Stoppable had been blinded by the statue head, and Possible and that ninja girl had still been inside the shrine. Nobody knew about his humiliation and thought he had merely been buried under falling boulders. They would all laugh at him if they knew what had really happened.

He glanced at Hana. Yes, this would stay between him and the baby.

"She's Stoppable's sister," he said again, but he knew that argument wouldn't fly with Amy.

The woman patted his arm. "I know you have some issues with that Stoppable boy, but you shouldn't take that out on his sister. She hasn't done anything," she said sweetly, but her words had the exact opposite effect than the one she was hoping for. Monkey Fist's glare only became darker as he stared at the baby who had the gall to simply smile back. He considered explaining just how deep his hatred for the pretender was, but he supposed it wouldn't have achieved anything. Amy simply wasn't capable of understanding the extent of such hate.

"Fine," he said with a sigh. "Let's just leave the baby with someone and get on with it. I want to get back to my monkeys."

"Do we have to?" Amy asked.

"What do you mean by that?" Monkey Fist asked. He grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the store manager whose brows had shot up his forehead at their rather eccentric conversation.

Amy looked at Hana who was still smiling and looking at everything with happy, curious eyes like all that she saw was new and wonderful to her. Monkey Fist had to admit that she was tolerable for a baby.

"She's so cute. Couldn't we keep her?" Amy asked.

"No! That's absolutely out of the question!" Monkey Fist snapped.

"Why? We could just walk out with her and nobody would notice," Amy said.

Monkey Fist drew a deep breath. Why was it that Amy could be perfectly normal and intelligent at one moment and then lose all common sense when she saw something she considered cute? Her love for everything that was cute was starting to look more and more like an unhealthy obsession to him. It was clearly making her unable to lead a normal life.

"I don't want to have a baby, especially this particular baby. The store manager has already seen us with her and could describe us to the police, which would tell Possible and Stoppable who has her. Global Justice would no doubt help them, as would every ninja in Yamanouchi. With our luck, even some of the other villains would turn their backs on us because nobody likes people who hurt children. This would seriously hinder my plans of becoming the Ultimate Monkey Master. Are these reasons enough or do you need more?" he asked. In truth, he realised that kidnapping Hana and holding her hostage wasn't really a bad plan, but the timing and place were dreadful for that type of scheme. Snatching a baby in a supermarket was pathetic and low even for him.

"Maybe you're right. But you've got to admit that she's sweet," Amy said.

"Let's just get rid of her. My monkeys must be wondering what's taking us so long," Monkey Fist said. The idea of running into Kim and Ron and having to fight his way past them wasn't very appealing, so he kept scanning his surroundings in hopes of finding a staff member who could take this burden off their shoulders. Sadly, there was nobody in sight. It was like Smarty Mart had suddenly cut their staff into half, resulting in even more work for the poor underpaid slaves they liked to call employees and more profit for the company. The other customers barely looked at them as they walked past.

"I know what to do. Let's just visit Kim's website and tell her where they can come and pick this little cutie up," Amy suggested.

"How about we just leave her here? I have no interest to --" Monkey Fist started, but he was cut off when Amy suddenly pushed Hana into his arms as she pulled her phone from her pocket.

"Hold her for a while, honey. This will take only a minute," she said.

"What do you think you're doing?" Monkey Fist asked and held Hana as far away from his face as he could so that she wouldn't grab his hair.

Amy pressed one more button. "There! Now they know to come and get the baby at the café outside," she said.

"Are you seriously suggesting that we'll simply waltz there with the baby like there was nothing wrong?" Monkey Fist asked.

"Why not? I'm sure they'll be happy to have her back safe and sound."

Monkey Fist shoved Hana back to Amy. Maybe Kim and Ron would be happy to see the mad geneticist, but he was certain that seeing him would make them livid - and the feeling was mutual. Ron held the first slot on his list of people he loathed and would have liked skinned alive, and Kim wasn't that far behind.

"You can go and play babysitter, but don't count me in," he stated. He didn't wait to hear her response and walked past her to get to the exit. Waiting in the car was probably a bit childish, but he didn't know what else he could have done. The whole situation frustrated him; he was this close to three people he would have gladly killed with his own hands, but he couldn't do so if he didn't want to risk the chance of getting caught and making Amy angry. He had often thought that she was at her worst when she wanted to cuddle, but he had learnt otherwise when his monkeys had accidentally broken some rare Cuddly Buddy collectible in her living room.

"Monty! Wait!" she called out and ran after him. She caught his arm, but he pulled it back.

"No, I'm not playing along. I don't want to have anything to do with my enemies if it doesn't involve their doom," he said.

"You can't seriously consider a baby your enemy," Amy pointed out.

Monkey Fist grimaced, again glad for that only he and Hana knew about his embarrassing defeat. He could only hope that she wouldn't remember that anymore when she got old enough to talk. It would probably be a good idea to silence her for good before that happened.

"Fine. Not the baby then, but Stoppable and Possible, yes. I can't go and meet them. They'd arrest me on the spot, and the same goes for you," he said.

"Oh, they can't be mad at me anymore. It's been so long since I did anything to them," Amy said.

"Then go and be arrested. I'll send you a postcard to prison," Monkey Fist said.

Hana had been silent throughout their exchange, turning her head to look from one adult to another and listening to their argument. The angrier Amy got, the tighter her hold around the baby became, and Hana was soon squirming with discomfort and trying to make someone see that she didn't like this. Sadly, Monkey Fist and Amy were both relatively selfish people who were used to looking out for themselves and had little to no experience with babies. That left Hana with exactly one way to make her discomfort known.

She started to cry.

Both Monkey Fist and Amy were startled when the high-pitched wail began and made a surprised jump. The monkey man could only stare at the crying baby while Amy tried to hush her back into silence with little success.

"Can't you make her shut up?" Monkey Fist asked.

"I think she's hungry. Or maybe she misses her brother," Amy said.

"All the more reason to get rid of her. Where did you say the two buffoons could come and pick her up?"

Amy had finally managed to make Hana calm down a little, but she was wrinkling her nose and hiccupping in a way that said she might start again if something upset her. It was a long time since Monkey Fist had last seen a baby cry, so he had forgotten how dreadful the sound actually was.

"You know that little coffee place they have outside? I said they could come there. We should probably hurry if we don't want to be late," Amy said. She again gave Hana to Monkey Fist before he had the time to object. "You go ahead. I'll buy some baby food in case we have to wait. We can't give the cutie back to them all hungry and cranky," she added.

"No, wait --" Monkey Fist tried, but Amy only waved at him and disappeared between the aisles. He groaned to himself and glared after her. Even after all this time she hadn't learnt to listen to what he said. It was just like back in the beginning; once she got something into her head, nothing in the world could make her see that it wasn't going to work.

* * *

"We've been looking for her everywhere! Admit it, we're never going to see Hana again," Ron said in a pitiful tone as he dragged himself behind Kim, barely managing to keep up with her and with his shoulders slumped. Kim looked the exact opposite of her boyfriend. Her eyes were alert and determined and she kept dashing between aisles and asking everyone if they had seen the baby.

"Don't give up. We'll find her," she said. She was sure of it. A baby couldn't just disappear like this. Maybe Hana had just curled up to sleep somewhere or they had simply missed her. It was just a store, not a desert or a rainforest. Yet, despite her determination, even she had to admit that she was growing a little worried. Ron's parents were no doubt wondering why it was taking them so long to pick up the ingredients for Hana's birthday cake.

Her Kimmunicator beeped, bringing the two of them to a halt.

"Wade?" Kim asked as she pulled the gadget from her pocket.

"We got a hit on the site," her friend said.

"That needs to wait. We lost Hana," Kim said.

Wade didn't even blink. "I know. I just got a message about that," he said.

"Really? Who sent it? And what does it say?" Kim asked. Who could possibly know about this?

"Is it the store manager? Maybe they've found her but can't tell us because the loudspeakers don't work," Ron suggested with new hope in his voice.

Wade's frown told Kim that it wasn't that simple, so she was not very surprised when he said, "Sorry, guys, but it's not him. I tracked the number and it turns out that it belongs to DNAmy."

"DNAmy?" Kim and Ron blurted out. Neither even thought about calling jinx.

"Yeah. She said that she has Hana and that you can pick her up at the café outside Smarty Mart," Wade said.

"Has she named her demands?" Kim asked.

Wade shook his head. "No, and that's the curious thing. I'd think even DNAmy would be more professional about kidnapping," he said.

"At least it's not one of our other enemies. Amy shouldn't be difficult to defeat and I don't think she's the sort of villain who would hurt a baby. We'll have Hana back in no time," Kim said.

Wade did some frantic typing. "Okay, I've logged in on the security system at the café. I'm looking at the security camera footage right now. Amy isn't there yet, but I think it's only the matter of minutes now. You should hurry," he said.

"We're on it," Kim said and turned off the Kimmunicator.

"Poor Hana! What are we going to do now?" Ron asked.

"Let's take it easy. We don't know what Amy wants, but I think she won't hurt Hana. If she has done something, it's probably not more severe than giving her too much ice cream," Kim reasoned. The only bad thing Amy could do was use Hana for her genetic experiments, but there was no way the woman could do that outside her laboratory. Hana was probably safe for the time being.

"That's bad enough. Hana's stomach gets upset easily," Ron said.

"Let's just hurry and get her back," Kim said.

* * *

It hadn't taken Monkey Fist long to decide that the fastest and easiest solution to the current predicament was to do what Amy wanted. He might not be able to tolerate an encounter with Kim and Ron, but it would be far more difficult to put up with Amy if he made her too upset. He was actually looking forward to the villain convention in Vegas because the word on the street was that someone had robbed some art collector and there might be mystical monkey items among the loot. He could have gone alone, but he didn't exactly fancy the idea of creating the impression that Amy had dumped him.

Everyone who passed them was smiling at them, probably thinking that he was her father. The mere idea made Monkey Fist feel awkward. There had been no point in his life when he had wanted children and that was not about to change.

"At least someone seems to be happy about this," he muttered and glared at Hana, leaning his chin against his palm. The girl had got over her crying fit and was all smiles and sunshine again. She was sitting in a baby chair the café had provided, so Monkey Fist could now observe her without any distractions.

To think that this pathetic little bundle had defeated him that easily… It was maddening. The secret weapon had almost been within his grasp. Without this baby, he would already be the Ultimate Monkey Master and would have crushed all his enemies. He would rule the world and there would be nobody to stop him!

Now that Amy wasn't there, the temptation to simply snap the baby's neck was almost too strong to resist. What did it really matter if somebody saw him? He was a wanted criminal anyway. He could take her outside, be done with the deed and disappear to one of his several hideouts in the outskirts of the world. And if Stoppable found him and came to get his revenge, all the better. Then he could kill the pretender as well.

Monkey Fist sneered and reached out to take Hana into his arms. "Now, why don't we go outside for a bit before your brother arrives," he said to her.

Hana only smiled back and tried to grab the hair on his hands.

"Look at you two! I knew you'd become great friends!"

Monkey Fist sighed and said goodbye to his plan when he heard Amy's voice. If he had only been a little faster!

Amy came over to their table and put her bag on it. She pulled out several cans of baby food, most of them flavoured with mango, strawberry or banana. Monkey Fist didn't ask why she had bought so many when one would have been more than enough. He withdrew back on his seat and crossed his arms on his chest. As far as he was concerned, his participation to the whole issue had now come to its end.

"Do you want to feed her?" Amy asked.

"No."

Amy opened one of the cans and offered Hana a spoonful of fruit sauce which she accepted gladly. She didn't make a mess, didn't try to steal the spoon and Amy didn't have to resort to any tricks to make her co-operate.

"Look how well she eats! She must be an easy baby to take care of," she said.

"Shouldn't Stoppable and Possible already be here?" Monkey Fist asked. It was already good fifteen minutes since Amy had informed the two of the situation. Surely their computer genius of a friend had already told them what was going on.

"Don't worry about them. I almost wish they wouldn't come at all," Amy said.

"I already told you we aren't going to keep her," Monkey Fist pointed out.

Amy sighed but continued smiling. "I know. But isn't this nice? It's like we're a real family. It makes me want to have a baby of my own," she said.

Monkey Fist glared at Hana. Did she have to be that perfect? She was filling Amy's head with stupid ideas. Couldn't she start screaming again or puke her food on her dress or do something else bad that babies always did?

"Kim, I don't see Hana anywhere."

Ron's voice caught their attention and made them turn to look at the entrance where the two teen heroes were standing and trying to spot the missing baby. Amy stopped feeding Hana for a moment and waved at them.

"Yoo-hoo! We're over here!" she called out.

Ron sighed happily. "Oh, there she is, right next to Monkey Fist." He took a moment to blink during which his expression turned from relief to utter horror. "Kim! Monkey Fist has my sister!"

Kim immediately took a fighting pose and pointer her hand at the two villains. "Let her go!" she demanded of them.

"I'm not holding her," Monkey Fist grumbled.

"And she's not done eating yet," Amy said.

"What are you giving her? Are you trying to poison her?" Ron asked in worry and ran over to their table, his worry for his sister making him forget that his deadliest enemy was sitting right across him. He picked up the half-empty can of baby food.

"Oh, it's Toddler Bobbler's Strawberry Delight. It's her favourite. How did you know?" he said

"I just guessed. She seemed like a strawberry kind of girl," Amy said and gave Hana a little poke on the nose. The girl giggled in response.

"That she is! Let me finish feeding her," Ron said.

"She has been such a good girl all this time. No trouble at all!" Amy continued as she and Ron cooed all over Hana and showered her with attention.

Kim looked at Monkey Fist. "So, is there going to be any fighting today?" she asked.

"Hrmph!"

"Don't mind him. He's just being grumpy because I made him take care of the baby," Amy said.

"Why did you even kidnap her?" Kim asked.

Amy stopped gushing over Hana and laughed as she turned to look at Kim. "We didn't kidnap her! We found her at the store and then we had to find out how to bring her back to you," she explained.

"You did?" Kim asked. She and Ron glanced uncertainly at each other.

"Of course! We just loved getting to know her. Didn't we, Monty?" Amy asked and turned to look at him.

Monkey Fist had done his best at ignoring everything that was going on around him until Kim and Ron left and ended this humiliating charade. He hadn't really thought about it, but it had to look odd to the two teens that he and Amy were here together in the first place. Explaining that to them would have only made his day worse.

"But naturally. I'm just _so_ happy I could be the good Samarian and do my good deed for the day," he said.

"I didn't know Amy had you on such a tight leash," Ron remarked as he picked Hana in his arms. She was done eating and was getting tired, so she leaned against her brother's chest and yawned.

"She does not have me on a leash!" Monkey Fist snapped.

"Huh. I guess that means that you really did enjoy saving a helpless baby," Kim pointed out. She had her brows lifted in an all-knowing expression that made Monkey Fist want to smash her head into bits.

"I could still kill you right here," he growled.

"Go ahead and try. You won't make it far," Kim threw back.

"Do you really have to start fighting? We were having such a great time," Amy said, looking from one person to another with pleading eyes. Her attitude only made Monkey Fist angrier; after all that he had been through he deserved to destroy something.

"You were having a good time! I've hated every minute of this!" Monkey Fist snapped. He jumped up to his feet and Kim immediately returned to her pose, ready to explode into motion if needed. All the other customers had grown quiet and were staring at them.

"Normally I wouldn't object to this, especially after you said you'd throw Hana into a volcano the last time we met, but I'd really like to make it home before Hana's bedtime. We still need to bake her cake," Ron pointed out from the sidelines.

"Oh, you mean it's her birthday? How nice!" Amy squealed. Then her expression grew sour and she turned to glare at Monkey Fist. "Honey bunny! Did you really try to hurt little Hana?"

"She was on my way!"

"That's no excuse! You can't do that to a baby!"

Ron edged over to Kim and whispered into her ear, "So, what do we do now?" he asked.

"I think those two are doing all the fighting we need. I'll just ask Wade to contact Global Justice and tell them that they're here," Kim decided. She pulled out the Kimmunicator and was about to turn it on, but Monkey Fist saw this in time.

"Don't even think about it!" he yelled and kicked the gadget away from her hand. Kim readied herself for another attack, but it never came. Monkey Fist stood there for a brief moment and glared at her, wondering if he should try to kill her there or make a run for it. Maybe some of the other customers had already called the police. Or maybe Wade had done so. After all, he knew where they were.

"Don't be stupid. Just surrender and make this easier for everyone," Kim said.

"Not likely," Monkey Fist said. He made up his mind, grabbed Amy's hand and dragged her outside the café and the store, ignoring how she waved at Kim and Ron and wished a happy birthday to Hana. When he glanced over his shoulder, he saw that neither of the teenagers had made a move to follow them, but Kim had picked up the Kimmunicator and was talking to Wade.

"There's no need to run so fast, honey. I've told my babies at home to attack the city if I get caught by Global Justice. They'd have to release us right away," she told him.

"I somehow doubt that they would take the threat of a handful of pink bunnies very seriously," Monkey Fist said.

"They may look cute, but they can be vicious if needed. I learnt a lot from that time I worked together with Drakken," Amy replied.

They made it to the car and drove away from the parking lot just as the police arrived. For a while Monkey Fist thought they might have recognised them, but thankfully nobody came after them. He only dared to start breathing normally again when they were nearing Amy's house.

"Wasn't that Hana just an adorable baby?" she asked. She spent the next ten minutes babbling about her and how much fun it had been to take care of her for that short while. She said she had always wanted a big family and that seeing how he and Hana and been just wonderful around each other had made her really happy.

"Monty?" she then said in a hopeful tone.

"We're not going to have a baby, Amy," Monkey Fist said.

"Aww, but honey bunny!"

"No."

**010: I'm broken**

It had taken them a little over a year to release Monkey Fist from his stone state. Twelve months. Fifty-two weeks. A little over three hundred and sixty-five days. Eight thousand seven hundred and sixty hours. Over five hundred and twenty-five thousand minutes. Thirty-one million and five hundred and fifty-six thousand seconds that he had spent screaming in rage and terror in the darkness of his own mind.

It had been the worst form of torture imaginable. He hadn't seen anything; he hadn't heard anything; he hadn't felt anything, not even his own body. It was like his mind had been drifting in endless emptiness, allowing him nothing but thought.

And he had thought much. He had planned how he would rip Stoppable and his little sister apart for making him go through this. He had envisioned their pain and suffering and pleas for mercy, but it had stopped entertaining him very quickly. His thirst for revenge had been replaced by fear and desperation as he had realised there was no salvation from his hell.

He had begged and pleaded for it to end, for someone to release him or at least for his mind to decay to such a state that he would no longer be aware of every mistake he had made in his life.

If only he hadn't been so foolish. If only he got a second chance.

When he had slowly started to feel his body again and when colours and shapes had suddenly begun to appear before his eyes, he had at first thought that blessed insanity had finally come. He had collapsed on his knees, and the pain had been the most wonderful thing he had ever felt in his life.

The cold ground under his hands and feet, the weak wind that ruffled his hair, the grains of sand that got under his nails, the blue sky, the brown earth, the colour of his skin and – It had all flooded over him at once, and it had been so amazing. Even the silence in the air had been completely unlike the dead quiet of his torment.

He had wanted to shout out his triumph and thank whoever had saved him, but all that had come out of his mouth had been incoherent babbling. He had barely noticed. Joy and relief had assaulted his mind with such force that he had simply broken down in sobs and thought how much he loved the feeling of hard sand under his palms. All the fresh sensations after having felt nothing for so long; it was unbearable!

At some point he had become aware of the hands that were guiding him to sit up, and he had heard someone call out his name. How come he had never realised what a beautiful name he had and how wonderful it was to hear someone say it?

He had got the distinct feeling that someone had tried to say something to him, but he had not listened to most of it. How could he have had? There was too much to feel and see and smell and hear to listen to the actual words.

There had been many people with him that day, but they all merged together in his mind. Stoppable might have been there. Monkey Fist sometimes thought he could recall the lad giving his condolences to someone. Not to him, but to someone else.

He didn't know how he could tell, but it was now about six months since that. He hadn't grown at all bored with the world around him; he could sit perfectly still for days and just observe everything around him. The cracks on the floor, the lonely ant climbing up the wall, the sound of raindrops drumming against the roof. It was all so beautiful.

She was there, too, but he mostly tuned out her words and just enjoyed the sound of her voice. Sometimes she touched him, gave him a gentle nudge against his shoulder or took his face into her hands.

"Hey, honey bunny," she greeted him one morning.

She pulled the curtains aside to let sunlight into the room.

"Look, isn't it a lovely day outside? Why don't we go out for a walk?"

He let her take his arm and guide him outside. They were living in a castle.

"Oh, and do you remember Kim Possible? But of course you do! Her mother said that you're making great progress. She said she's fully expecting you to start talking again. Isn't that great?"

She leaned her head against his shoulder and let out a blissful sigh.

"I just can't wait until you come back to me!"


	3. Eleven A

I know I said that I'd post five of these at a time, but #11 got so stupidly long that I decided to post it alone. And by stupidly long I mean 26,000 words, so I even had to cut it into two parts. I will post the second part within a few days once I'm done proofreading it.

**Warning:** This one has dark themes in it and contains several character deaths. I usually like to explore villains' personalities and show different sides of them, but this time I wrote Monty as pure evil with no redeeming qualities. I know some of his fans don't like that, so don't read this if you can't stomach it.

The story doesn't really fit the prompt because my original idea kept growing and developing as I wrote it. I admit I was too lazy to rewrite it or to start a new story.

**ME MONTY, YOU AMY**

**011a**

**011: Thought I needed this**

DNAmy watched with anticipation as yellow glow surrounded the stone statue until it became so bright that she had to close her eyes from the light. Her heart was beating so fast that she thought it might stop from exhaustion, and she could barely remain still. Her Monty was coming back! She just couldn't believe it!

She wanted to squeal and jump up and down in her excitement, but Sensei's words were all too clearly burnt in her mind. If she did something and interrupted the spell, the consequences could be dire. So though she wanted to run over to where Ron and Hana were performing the spell, the two of them being the only people who had the power to do so, she stayed put.

It had taken her some time to convince Kim, Ron and Sensei that they should try to bring Monkey Fist back. They had all refused at first and told her that it was too dangerous and even that he deserved his fate for playing with forces he didn't understand. She just couldn't believe that. Surely this was all just a tragic mistake. Her Monty would never really want to hurt anyone that bad.

Amy had refused to take no for an answer, so she had hired a shady expert on Japanese magic and legends to do some research for her. The old man had told her that it was possible to release someone who had chosen to follow the Path of the Yono but that it would be very difficult and dangerous to everyone involved. She hadn't cared. She had told the man to start making the preparations.

They hadn't made it very far. Black-clad ninjas had surrounded them from all directions, and Sensei had stepped forward, saying that he could not allow them to continue. Amy couldn't remember what she had exactly said, but she had declared that she would never give up and she would have her cuddle monkey no matter what she had to do.

Sensei had stood in silence for a long time. Then he had nodded.

"Sensei?" one of the ninjas, clearly female, had asked in confusion.

"If he is to come back, it is better if it's on our terms," Sensei had said. He had gestured at the altar Amy and her advisor had been building. "Magic like this brings forth only destruction."

Sensei had therefore agreed to help Amy if both Kim and Ron were willing to join them and if they were allowed several conditions. Amy didn't know what they were nor did she really care. As long as Monty came back, nothing mattered. She had quickly agreed to everything that Sensei had suggested to her. Something about taking some power from Monty.

Now it was almost time. Her breath got caught in her throat as she saw how the yellow glow slowly started to fade, revealing the form of a man. He was still reaching out before him as he had been as a statue, but the terrified expression on his face had been replaced by bewilderment. He was blinking. Amy could see his chest move in rhythm to his breathing.

She wanted to run right to him and squeal her joy to the world, but she didn't. She was so happy she couldn't move.

Monkey Fist fell on his knees with a groan and held his upper body up with his arms, but then they gave in as well and he collapsed as a pathetic heap on the ground. He tried to move, but he was still too weak and surprised by his sudden freedom.

Ron held Hana tighter in his arms and retreated to where Kim, Yori and Sensei were standing. Amy barely remembered that they were even there.

"Monty?" she asked softly as she walked over to him and knelt by his side. She put her hands on his shoulders and felt him shiver.

"What… what happened?" he asked in a hoarse voice. His voice was so quiet she almost couldn't hear him.

"We saved you. You're back," Amy said.

"Back?"

"Yes! The horrible spell that turned into stone is gone! Now you will never have to worry about anything again. I'm here, and I will love you forever and ever and we'll be so happy together! We can forget all about this ugly Yono business," Amy said, finally letting her excitement pour from inside her. She wrapped her arms around Monkey Fist and pulled him close against her chest. He didn't resist.

"Yono?" he asked. He sounded curious.

"Yeah, but don't worry about that, cuddle monkey. It's all over now," Amy said.

Monkey Fist didn't say anything, but Amy could feel him shiver against her. Oh, the poor thing! It must have been so horrible to become a statue. She shook her head at how irresponsible he had been and swore that she would make it up to him. From now on, he would lead a lovely and peaceful life with her and they'd be together forever.

"Monty?" she asked when his shaking became more violent. There was a pitiful sound. Was he crying? She was just about to whisper something soothing into his ear when she realised he wasn't crying after all. He was laughing.

She instinctively let go of him when his laughter grew louder and louder until he was guffawing uncontrollably, struggling to breathe at the same time. He fell on the ground and lay there on his back, staring at the dark sky above him and laughing like he had heard the best joke of his life.

"He needs help," Ron muttered from the sidelines.

"Monty, what's wrong?" Amy asked.

Monkey Fist struggled to sit up as he finally quieted down. He wiped tears of laughter from the corners of his eyes and kept smiling, but it was far from a happy smile. Just looking at how his lips were twisted in a grin sent shivers down Amy's spine.

"Nothing is wrong. In fact, everything is just perfect!" Monkey Fist declared. He pulled himself up from the ground and swaggered a little, like he had trouble using his feet.

"Were you the one who brought me back?" he asked her.

"It was my idea, but they did it," Amy said and pointed to the others who were watching their spectacle with wary expressions. Kim and Yori looked like they were ready to leap into action at any moment and Ron was holding Hana like she was the most precious thing in his life. Sensei was entirely calm, but somehow Amy got the impression that he was the one who was the most prepared.

Monkey Fist put his hand on his chest as if he were deeply touched. "Well, I must thank you for taking the time to bring my destiny back on track. Unfortunately it doesn't mean that I will spare your lives," he said.

"Nice boasting, but you don't have any powers anymore. Our spell took care of that," Kim said.

"Oh, really?" Monkey Fist asked and lifted a questioning brow at them. He moved the hand from his chest and clenched it into a fist. A faint yellow glow surrounded it and he lifted it high like a torch so that everyone could see it. "Then what is this?"

"Sensei! I thought you said he wouldn't have any powers left!" Ron blurted out.

"Something went wrong. Stay back," Sensei said. He took one step forward and regarded Monkey Fist with a grim look in his eyes.

"Oh, don't tell me you're trying to oppose me. You can't have forgotten what the power of the Yono can do," Monkey Fist said casually.

"Our spell should have drained that power from you," Sensei explained.

"Really? So you were trying to bring me back as a useless shell who can't do anything with his life just to mock me? And I thought you were the righteous heroes," Monkey Fist replied.

"We brought you back because of her love for you." Sensei nodded at DNAmy. "There was no other reason."

Monkey Fist snorted and rolled his eyes. "What do I care about your reasons? All that matters is that I have the Yono's powers and none of you can stop me! The world will bow to me like it should have done years ago!"

"Do not be foolish. Even with those powers, you are not powerful enough to take over the world," Sensei said.

"We shall see about that. However, these powers should be more than enough to get my revenge on you," Monkey Fist said, and his wicked grin grew wider as he turned his eyes to Ron and Hana.

"If you try to do anything --" Kim started, but Monkey Fist's chuckle cut her off.

"Oh, please. The previous Yono defeated you with ease. Why do you think you stand a chance against me?" he asked.

"Maybe because we've defeated you every single time before," Kim challenged him.

"I can assure you that it won't be that easy this time. Don't you realise how powerful I am?" Monkey Fist clapped his palms together and a yellow aura surrounded him as he rose into the air. "I am the new Yono!"

Kim and Yori took instinctive steps forward with their hands raised in fighting poses, but Sensei stopped them with one movement of his hand. The young women turned to look at him in bewilderment.

"He is right. You cannot defeat him like this. You need to retreat and come back when you're better prepared," the old man said.

"But what can we do? I don't want to put Hana into danger again," Ron said.

"If you're done with your chat, I'd very much like to see you die now," Monkey Fist said from above them. He seemed to have mastered his new powers in no time at all and was sneering down at them with more malice than the previous Yono ever had. He brought his hands before him and released a wave of yellow energy at the heroes.

Kim leapt aside just before it would have hit her and rolled away. She jumped back on her feet and turned to glare at the hovering monkey man with brows furrowed in determination. She looked like she was ready to try and jump at him, but she had to dodge again when Monkey Fist attacked her the second time.

"Kim! Look out!" Ron warned her. He looked like he was going through the worst kind of torture. On one hand, he wanted to go and help his girlfriend, but at the same time he didn't know if he could let go of Hana. He made his decision in a split second and pushed Hana into Yori's arms.

"Hold her for a while, okay?" he said before the ninja had the time to object. He ran over to the middle of the make-shift battle field, waving his arms to get Monkey Fist's attention.

"Hey, you! Keep your hands off Kim! It's me you want, right?" he asked.

"Ron, stay out of this!" Kim yelled, worried that he'd do something stupid. She trusted her abilities to fair against Monkey Fist, but she wasn't sure how long Ron could keep dodging the man's attacks.

Monkey Fist paused to look at Ron. "Oh, don't worry. Your turn will come in due time. I just want to kill your girlfriend first so that I can see the devastation on your face," he said.

"But that's not fair!" Ron snapped.

"How so? You stole my Mystical Monkey Power and prolonged my victory all this time. This won't do anything to compensate for that!" Monkey Fist shot back.

Ron shook his head. "No, not that. I mean this," he said and pointed both of his hands at Monkey Fist like he was trying to underline something obvious. "It's not fair to fly there where we can't reach you and use those powers! Where's your sense of sportsmanship?"

"I'd say it probably died when you merely watched me become a stone statue and let me be buried underground," Monkey Fist said.

"Dude, that was so not our fault. You were asking for it with that whole Yono deal. Don't you ever watch movies? Making pacts with dark forces always comes back to bite you in the butt," Ron said.

"Could be, but that won't change the fact that I will kill all of you right here, right now."

"Can't you at least do it here on the ground? You know, using kung fu and no magic? For old times' sake," Ron suggested, but Monkey Fist only shook his head and chuckled.

"Don't even try that trick with me," he said.

"Huh, I guess you watch movies after all," Ron said.

While this exchange was going on, Kim crept closer to Monkey Fist. He was so high in the air that she couldn't use any effective attacks against him, but she could just about grab his foot if she jumped right. Again grateful for her cheerleading experience, she made a mad jump and caught a hold of Monkey Fist's left foot and pulled him down.

"I read bo –hey!" Monkey Fist was too startled to do anything as Kim's weight pulled him down and the two of them landed on the ground with a thud. Kim quickly made it back to her feet and prepared herself for the battle that was sure to come, bringing her hands in front of her in a defensive pose.

Monkey Fist stood up with no hurry and brushed dust off his ninja garb. "On the other hand, what does it matter? It'll be more fun to kill you with my bare hands," he said.

Kim wasted no time for a comeback but aimed a swift kick at Monkey Fist's side. He dodged her with ease, but didn't try to counter her attack at all. Kim growled under her breath, knowing that he was toying with her. It made her all the more determined to defeat him. She had always faired well against him in honest battles, so as long as he didn't resort to magic, she might be able to take him down.

Ron backed away from the fight and returned to Sensei and Yori. Both were observing the fight with worried frowns on his face. It occurred to him that all of them had forgotten about DNAmy, but he couldn't really bring himself to care about her at the moment.

"What are we going to do?" Ron asked.

Sensei turned to look at Yori. "Do you remember the cave where we found Hana?" he asked. When she nodded, he continued, "The powers of darkness can't harm you there. You must hide and prepare yourselves for another confrontation. You can't defeat him now."

Yori frowned at his choice of words. "But Sensei, what about you?" she asked.

"I will stay here to hold him back while you escape," Sensei said.

"You can't do that! He'll fry you!" Ron said.

"We can all escape together," Yori added in a hurried tone. She brought her hands on Sensei's arms to try to convince him, but he pushed her away.

"I want you to take everyone away from here and make sure they remain safe," he said.

"But --"

"Yori, this is an order. Do not shame yourself by questioning me." Sensei's hard tone caught Yori off guard and for a brief moment she could only stare at him with startled eyes. Then her demeanour turned equally determined and she nodded.

"Very well. We will do our best," she said.

Sensei closed his eyes and a blue glow appeared around him, looking almost soft compared to the bright yellow of Monkey Fist's attacks. This action caught the attention of the monkey man, and he stopped attacking Kim for a moment.

"Well," he said, "It looks like you're stupid enough to try it after all."

"Kim, over here!" Ron yelled at his girlfriend who had been trying to deliver a blow at Monkey Fist all this time. She wasn't hurt, but she was sweating and panting from having had to keep moving all the time. She glanced from Monkey Fist to Ron and since the villain's attention was elsewhere at the moment, she quickly ran over to the others.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Sensei is going to distract him so that we can escape," Ron explained.

Kim turned her head sharply to look at Sensei. "What? But that means he'll --"

"Yeah, we know."

"We can't let him do that! There has to be another way! I won't run!" Kim snapped, fury and determination masking her face. She clenched her fists and was about to run over to Sensei, but Yori caught her shoulder.

"This is what he wants. The least we can do is honour his decision," she said.

"We can't leave him to die!" Kim argued with an angry gleam in her eyes. She looked over to Ron for support, but her boyfriend's expression mirrored that of Yori.

"Kim, please," he said. "I don't like it either, but if you go there, you'll just die too."

"Nobody has ever died before. I can't let that happen," Kim insisted. She shoved Yori's hand off her shoulder with an angry wave of her hand, but she was stopped again. This time it was Ron. His lips were a tight line and his eyes so uncharacteristically serious that she froze in the middle of her movement. The last time she could remember him looking like that was when they had faced Drakken and Shego during the Diablo incident.

"Ron, we have to do something," she said, but now there was a pleading tone in her voice that sounded off even in her own ears.

"I know, and I wish we could, but we have to let Sensei do this. If we don't, someone is going to get hurt and… and I don't want to see you or Hana or Yori die," Ron said. He took a hold of Kim's hand and pulled her away from the battle. She followed him reluctantly, wishing that she could go back and help Sensei. It fought against everything that she considered right that she was just walking away and leaving someone in trouble.

"This is wrong. We should --" she started again.

"We should do what Sensei wants! This is about what he thinks is right, not about you!" Yori cut her off with an angry snap that startled Kim so much that she didn't know what to say at first. She had never seen Yori angry before, and from the look on Ron's face, this reaction was a surprise to him as well.

Kim felt a wave of shame wash over her as she realised that no matter how bad she was feeling, it had to be many times worse for Yori. She was going to lose her mentor, one of the most important people in her life. Kim didn't know what kind of relationship Sensei and Yori had, but it was clear that they cared about each other. If Yori was able to handle the situation, so should she.

She bowed her head in defeat and swore that somehow they'd avenge Sensei.

* * *

Monkey Fist smirked when he saw that Kim and the others had suddenly disappeared. It didn't matter. There was nowhere they could run from him.

"It looks like your friends have abandoned you," he said to Sensei.

"They're following my instructions," the old man said.

Monkey Fist chuckled. "Do you think you can ensure their safety by winning them some time? I'm sorry to disappoint you, but your sacrifice will be in vain. I will find them," he said.

"But by then they will know how to defeat you."

Sensei made no move to attack him, only stood there surrounded by his blue glow. It protected him from most physical attacks, but Monkey Fist was certain that he could easily destroy the man with the powers of the Yono. He only had to lift his finger.

"There is nothing that is stronger than me!" he snapped.

"What about the Han?" Sensei asked, and Monkey Fist grimaced at the memory of the baby defeating him and sealing him in stone. It had been an embarrassing defeat and the gravest mistake of his life. Or maybe not. If he hadn't been cursed, he would have never got these powers.

"I will deal with her when the time comes. I am prepared now; she cannot defeat me a second time," he swore.

Sensei shook his head. "You cannot destroy her. Even if you kill her, she will be reincarnated. There will always be a Han, just like there will always be a Yono, as you found out," he said.

"Oh, spare me from your nonsense," Monkey Fist said with a roll of his eyes. How come the old fool was still trying to cling on to his idiotic teachings and ideas? It was clear to everyone that he was going to die soon. The fact that he could remain so calm before his own death aggravated the simian man. Sensei should have been quivering with terror and begging for mercy.

Well, maybe Stoppable, then, he thought.

"I'm only saying the truth. Though you may not want to accept it, the powers of the Yono come with great drawbacks. You didn't get them without sacrifices," Sensei said.

"Oh?" Monkey Fist asked snidely. "And what are these significant sacrifices?" he asked. Really, what nonsense! He was the most powerful being in the world, which was what he had always wanted. He had worked so hard to get to this point that he was not going to let a senile old fool to ruin it.

"You can be sealed back into stone. You can die a mortal death and the powers will be given to someone else. You will always live your life in fear, glancing behind your shoulder and lying awake at night, wondering when someone is going to attack you," Sensei said.

"That only means that I will have to kill everyone who stands in my way!" Monkey Fist snapped. Having had enough of Sensei's babbling, he raised his hands before him and concentrated to call the power that was now sealed deep inside him. He felt a sense of warmth spread from his heart to all of his other body parts, growing more and more intense until it was so hot that it hurt. He didn't mind the pain; it was a suitable price for being able to use the most amazing power in the world.

The first flame of yellow fire was reflected off Sensei's protective bubble, but it knocked the old man back and almost made him lose his balance. He had been keeping his hands hidden in his sleeves through their conversation, but now he suddenly brought them up in a pose that Monkey Fist didn't recognise – and the next thing he knew was that this time it was him being hit. He stumbled and fell on one knee, gasping at the sudden pain that was so different and cold compared to the agony inflicted by his powers.

"You aren't invincible," Sensei pointed out.

"Maybe not," Monkey Fist said as he picked himself up, "but neither are you!" His anger at how easily Sensei had hit him seemed to fuel his powers for it was far easier to summon them a second time. It was also more painful, but he bore it with gritted teeth.

His next attack hit Sensei with full force and tore through his bubble. The old man let out a pained yell and fell on his back, the blue glow around him disappearing together with his concentration. As he struggled to get up, Monkey Fist let his hands fall to his sides and walked over to the man.

"I have no patience to play with you. If I can defeat you this easily, what do you think the pretender can do?" he asked.

"He is far more powerful than you," Sensei said as he gasped for breath. "And unlike you… he is following his destiny."

"A destiny that was rightfully mine! I will make him suffer in ways that you can't even imagine, old man," Monkey Fist growled. Sensei tried to get up, but Monkey Fist gave him a sharp kick to his stomach. The old man groaned but continued his struggle like an insect that just didn't know when to give up. Kicking him felt good after all the injustice he had suffered so Monkey Fist relished in the feeling of his foot connecting with the man's side. The sound of a rib breaking made his grin widen.

Sensei coughed and rolled over to his back, struggling to breathe. His face was twisted in pain, but he looked up at Monkey Fist with strikingly clear eyes.

"The harder you try, the more triumphant Stoppable-san will be," he said.

"Silence! I will have no more of your pathetic babbling!" Monkey Fist snapped. He dropped down on one knee and wrapped his hands around Sensei's neck, concentrating to draw the power from within him. He could have done this without magic, but he wanted Sensei to feel the true might of the Yono in his final moments.

Sensei conjured his own magic and for a while yellow and blue glow battled for dominance. Monkey Fist grit his teeth to stop himself from groaning at the pain the struggle caused him; he knew he'd win if he could just endure it for a little while longer. He felt Sensei's strength run out little by little until the old man was no longer moving or surrounded by his power.

"The pretender won't get an easy end like this," Monkey Fist said. He tightened his grip just a little more and chuckled when he felt Sensei grow limp. The struggle to get air into his lungs ceased and there was no more coldness around him, only the burning power of the Yono.

Monkey Fist wished that Sensei had heard and understood his final words to him. It suited the fool right to die in despair.

He tried to stand back up, but as soon as he did, a horrible wave of dizziness hit him and he was forced to fall back down. His head was spinning, and he found it difficult to focus on anything. The dull thumping inside his head was a reminder of the powers he had just used, maybe too much and too fast. He had to practice more if he really wanted to control the powers that had been granted to him.

"Monty?"

He blinked in surprise when he heard DNAmy's voice behind him. He had entirely forgotten that she was still there.

"Go away," he grumbled. Dealing with her was the last thing he wanted to do now.

He heard how she approached him, growing more and more hesitant the closer she got.

"Did you… did you really kill him?" she asked weakly.

"Of course I did! He deserved it after what he was done to me!" Monkey Fist snapped.

"But he helped me get you back. He helped you," Amy argued. Her voice was thick with regret and sorrow. Monkey Fist would have rolled his eyes at that if his headache hadn't been getting worse every second. It was just like her to be so stupidly sentimental and pathetic.

"And that was his greatest mistake. He should have known what would happen," he said. "Now leave me. I want to be alone."

Of course Amy didn't go. She had never listened to anything he had told her.

"But what are you going to do now?" she asked.

"I will go after the pretender and his friends and destroy them!" he replied. Wasn't that obvious? What else could possibly be in his mind but revenge? Ron Stoppable had humiliated him countless times and ruined his life. The boy deserved nothing but a most painful death.

Since Amy apparently wasn't about to leave him, he decided that he would leave her. He forced himself back on his feet and took a few defiant steps away from her, but he didn't make it very far before he almost lost his balance. She was immediately by his side, letting him lean against her shoulder and helping him walk.

"Didn't I tell you to leave me alone?" he asked.

"I can't do that, honey bunny. You're not fit to take care of yourself right now," she replied.

It struck Monkey Fist as almost surreal that she was still referring to him by those silly pet names even after he had killed a man before her eyes. It was annoying, but it meant that she wasn't as easily shaken as he had thought. And she did have a point. If someone decided to attack him right now, he probably wouldn't be able to put up much of a fight. He would have to be better prepared when he went after Stoppable.

"Where are we?" he asked. The surroundings reminded him of Japan, but he didn't think he had ever been here before.

"This is a safe mountain valley near the Yamanouchi school. I have a hover car hidden close by. Don't worry, the ninjas will never find out what happened before we're gone," Amy said.

Monkey Fist shook his head, a plan already forming in his mind. With Sensei dead, Yamanouchi was defenceless and easy to take over. Once he had rested, it should be no trouble to blast through the gates and declare himself the new master of the school. He'd kill everyone who didn't submit to him and start his world domination from the shadows with his own trained ninja army.

"No," he said. "I want to stay here. I only need a little time to rest."

"Are you sure? You look pretty bad," Amy said.

"I know what I'm doing!"

Thankfully Amy got the hint and remained silent for the rest of their journey. She led him to a small cave where she had a hover craft stashed and helped him find a comfortable position on the floor. He was too occupied by his thoughts of invading Yamanouchi to care about what she was doing, so he let her fuss and babble to herself about how he should be more responsible and not strain himself too much. She was almost too bright and happy considering the circumstances, but Monkey Fist didn't notice any of that.

* * *

None of them had said a word throughout their journey. Even Hana kept silent, sitting quietly in Ron's arms and merely looking at the rest of them with big, worried eyes. She didn't understand what had happened, but she could sense that something was very wrong.

Ron wished he could have been that blissfully ignorant as well. He didn't want to think about what had happened to Sensei and how he had just fled with the others and left the old man to his doom. Some Monkey Master he was! His actions had been those of a coward. The fact that the logical part of him knew he had had no other option only made it worse.

"It's here," Yori said as she led them through a small opening that grew into a large cave. It was lit by some sort of strange blue crystals that gave the place an eerie glow. When he stopped to lean against the wall, Ron noted how oddly smooth it was. The cave was probably made by humans. Several wooden boxes lined the walls.

"What is this place?" Kim asked.

"This is where we found Hana," Yori explained.

"What? In here? What was she doing here?" Ron asked. This what where his sister had come from? Somehow he had assumed that she had a more normal background… parents who had died or been unable to take care of her. It was odd to think that she had just been abandoned and that they'd probably never find out her true origin.

"We don't know. Sensei had a vision that we would find something important here," Yori said.

"Okay, now you're kind of giving me the creeps," Ron said.

"It was destiny that she was sent our way. There is no other explanation."

Ron decided to ignore that for the time being. His head was already spinning from what had happened with Monkey Fist and Sensei. The last thing he needed to think about was whether his little sister had something to do with legends or not.

He swallowed a lump in his throat when his thoughts were turned to Sensei. If he had known that it would come to this, he would have never agreed to help DNAmy. Monkey Fist should have remained sealed away for all eternity. Ron didn't know if he wanted to cry for Sensei or smash his fist into the wall in anger, but he did neither. Neither Kim nor Yori needed him to be strong for them, but he knew that if he didn't pretend that they did, he'd probably break down.

"Why did Sensei tell us to come here?" he asked.

"This cave is protected by strange powers. Monkey Fist won't be able to find it and he can't hurt us here," Yori said.

"Strange powers, huh? I'm not going to put my faith in that. There has to something else we can do about this," Kim said. She pulled out her Kimmunicator and tried to contact Wade, but all she got was static.

"I guess your mystical powers are blocking the signal. I'll be back in a minute," she said and headed for the entrance.

"KP, wait!" Ron called out. She stopped to frown at him, so he quickly continued, "I think we should wait. If Monkey Fist is out there, you shouldn't go there alone."

"I can take care of myself. I'll just call Wade and tell him what's going on. We have to do something," Kim said.

"I agree with Stoppable-san. We should wait here and come up with a plan," Yori said.

"Wait until Monkey Fist kills someone else? We have no time! We can't just do nothing!" Kim snapped. She turned to stare at Ron, her eyes blazing with determination and begging for him to understand. Ron would have liked nothing more than if it had been that simple, but he knew they couldn't just run into battle with guns blazing.

He turned his eyes to the floor. "I have to think about Hana, KP. Monkey Fist will get her if something happens to us. And we don't even know how to fight him yet," he said.

"But—it's not supposed to be like this!" Kim said. Ron couldn't have agreed more. They weren't supposed to lose and nobody was supposed to get hurt. Things were meant to be straightforward; they'd fight the bad guys and they – or usually Kim – would defeat them and haul them off to jail. Last time with Monkey Fist and the Yono had been bad enough, but this was… He just didn't get it.

"We should have never agreed to help DNAmy," he said. He felt a stab of guilt at that. He had been the first one to agree with Sensei and try to bring Monkey Fist back. He had thought they were doing the right thing and that maybe the simian man would even be grateful to be released from his stone prison. He had dared to hope that maybe they could finally put an end to his stupid rivalry that he hadn't even wanted to be part of.

"Nobody could have known that this would happen," Kim pointed out.

"Or maybe Sensei did," Yori said.

Kim and Ron turned to their friend. She had gone to investigate the boxes that Ron had noted earlier and was now holding an ancient scroll before her. She put it down and took another item from the box. It was some sort of urn with ancient writing on it.

"What's that?" Ron asked.

Yori shook her head. "I don't know, but Sensei must have put it here for a reason. None of this was here when we found Hana," she said.

Kim went to take a look as well. She turned the urn up and down in her hands and frowned at the writing that she couldn't read.

"This could be important. I bet Wade would be able to translate this," she said.

"It's a good start," Yori agreed.

"I could ask him to do it right now if I went out," Kim added.

"Let's wait until we have made full inventory and know what to ask of him," Yori suggested.

They worked their way through the boxes, but most of the contents didn't tell them anything. Even Yori who had some training in reading ancient Japanese couldn't say what the scrolls and items they found meant, only that they clearly had something to do with the Yono and the Han. They agreed that Sensei had probably predicted that something could go wrong and had wanted to provide them with the means to fix things if he wasn't there to help.

"You know, he could have given us a mystical language to English translation to go with these," Ron said as he glared at a pendant in the shape of a monkey's head before putting it back into the box.

"Maybe he didn't have the time," Kim said. She was about to get up, but then she noticed a long, thin box behind the others. She pulled it out and held it in her hands with a frown. "I wonder what this is."

Somehow Ron knew right away what was in the box. He actually thought it was surprising that he hadn't felt it when he had first entered the cave because the feeling of security and familiarity was suddenly so strong. It was like Sensei was there with them.

Kim opened the box and revealed a long blade resting inside it. She was about to reach inside the box and pull the blade out, but she stopped when she noticed the expressions on Ron and Yori's faces.

"What?" she asked.

"The Lotus Blade," Yori said.

Kim turned her eyes back on the sword. "This is the Lotus Blade?"

"I haven't seen that in a while," Ron said. In a way this was like meeting an old friend. When he had handled the mystical sword, it had been the first time in his life when he had really felt like he was a hero who could stand on his own and not be dependant on anybody else. He reached out and took the blade into his hands, enjoying the comfortable weight.

"Sensei must have brought it here so that you can use it to defeat Monkey Fist," Yori said.

"With an old sword?" Kim asked, sounding a little sceptical.

"It's his destiny," Yori stated.

"Wait, I'm not sure if I really like the sound of that. It was bad enough having that implied when he was a normal psycho, but now that he's got an upgrade, I don't think I have what it takes," Ron said.

Especially not without Sensei, he added to himself. The security brought by the Lotus Blade suddenly felt like it was choking him. Sensei had been the one to show the sword to him. Sensei had told him how to use it and had filled him in on its history. Sensei had been the one who had given him the shove to go after Monkey Fist and save Yori. When he had been back in America, he had often thought about the old man and his teachings. He wouldn't have got this far without him; he was sure of it.

And how had he paid back for all that? He had ran away like a coward and left his mentor to die. He didn't deserve the Lotus Blade or anyone's trust. He was just a sidekick.

"Ron? Are you okay?" Kim asked him, having seen the anguish on his face.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said and turned his eyes away. Kim and Yori didn't need to see how much it hurt.

"Don't forget that you defeated the Lowardians. You can defeat Monkey Fist as well," Yori said.

Ron stared at the Lotus Blade. He hoped he could. It was the least he could do after Sensei had given his life to ensure their safety.

"I'll go and talk to Wade," Kim said. She cast a brief look at Ron and Yori that told them that trying to stop her this time would be useless. She picked up some of the scrolls and urns so that she could show the writing to her friend. Yori came to help her.

"I'll come, too. Nobody should go outside alone," she said.

Kim frowned and looked like she was about to argue, but Yori simply turned away and started piling scrolls in her arms. Ron shrugged at Kim behind Yori's back, hoping that his girlfriend wouldn't try to challenge the ninja. Yori had the best idea about what was going on and she was probably hurting the most because of Sensei.

"Okay. Let's make it quick," Kim agreed.

Ron was left alone with Hana. Having the two young women go away seemed to ease his pain a little. He knew it was stupid, but Kim's strength and determination were making him feel like he wouldn't be able to live up to anybody's expectations. Yori only made it worse because she didn't demand anything of him; she behaved like it was a fact that he was a great hero and would defeat Monkey Fist.

He ran his fingers across the blade of the sword. It felt warm and comfortable. Just holding the blade made him feel like Sensei was watching over him.

"I didn't want this trip to Yamanouchi be like this," he said to Hana who was sitting quietly by the wall. Her eyes were half closed and she would probably fall asleep any second now. Ron went to take a blanket from one of the boxes and wrapped it around his little sister. He couldn't help but smile, glad for that she didn't know what was going on.

* * *

Yori watched how Kim pressed a button on her Kimmunicator and called Wade. The ninja remained a few steps away. She told herself that it was because she wanted to keep an eye on their surroundings in case Monkey Fist came looking for them, but she knew that wasn't all of it. Being close to Kim felt too exhausting. The crime fighter was so full of energy and determination to do the right thing that everything Yori did or felt seemed mediocre compared to it. She supposed she had never been good enough next to Kim, or otherwise Stoppable-san might have –

No. She frowned at her treacherous thoughts. She had said she accepted their relationship and she had to stand by her word. Besides, this was not the time or place to worry about her broken heart. There were far more important matters at hand.

When she thought about Sensei and how he was gone, it felt like she had suddenly been yanked from her comfortable life. Sensei had always provided her with direction and guidance. To think that he would never share his wisdom with her or talk with her when she felt uncertain about her path… He had been like a grandfather to her, andMonkey Fist had taken him from her. That horrible, selfish bastard who should have never been brought back to life. Yori swallowed and struggled to keep her breathing steady, feeling like she was choking with her anger and pain.

She would have her revenge. It probably wasn't what Sensei would have wanted, but she would make sure that when they defeated Monkey Fist, it would be slow and painful.

"Yori, can I see that vase?" Kim asked, pointing to the item in her hands. Yori handed it over and Kim pointed the Kimmunicator on it. A blue beam shot from the gadget and copied the ancient writing on the vase into the database.

"This looks very old. I don't think I have a code for this language," Wade said.

"Can you find one?" Kim asked.

"Probably, but it could take a while."

"How long?"

"Give me an hour."

"Okay, but make it faster if you can. This is serious," Kim said.

Brief silence. "Did Monkey Fist really --" Wade asked, but he didn't finish the question.

"Yeah," Kim said with a grim face. "But he's not going to get away with it."

"I'll get to work right away," Wade said. Kim pressed a button on the Kimmunicator and Wade's face disappeared.

"Now we can only wait," Yori said.

"I wish there was more to do. I feel so useless when I think about that he's out there. Who knows what he's doing even now?" Kim asked.

It was like a thousand ice needles had suddenly pierced Yori's heart. Yamanouchi! The school was defenceless without Sensei. They had no way of knowing what had happened or preparing for an attack. If Monkey Fist decided to advance on the school, everyone would be doomed.

"I must go and warn everyone in Yamanouchi," she said hurriedly.

Kim's eyes widened as she, too, realised the danger. "I'll come with you," she said at once, but Yori shook her head.

"No, it is better if I go alone. There is no need to put us both into danger," she said.

"But --"

"Your place is with Stoppable-san," Yori said.

There was no way Kim could argue with that. Her shoulders slumped, but the frustrated and determined frown didn't disappear from her face. She nodded stiffly.

"Be careful," she said as Yori disappeared into the shadows.

* * *

Amy sat with her back against the stone wall and watched how Monkey Fist slept. Using his powers had exhausted him more than he would have ever admitted to anyone. Amy liked it that he felt it was safe to let his guard down in her presence, but at the same time there was an uncomfortable hollow feeling at the bottom of her stomach.

She hadn't been able to think about anything but Sensei ever since Monkey Fist had fallen asleep. If she hadn't seen it herself, she would have never believed that her Monty was capable of killing someone in cold blood and with no remorse. Sure, he was a little rough around the edges, but she was certain that inside he was just a big, fluffy Cuddle Buddy waiting to be hugged. To see him gain such pleasure from killing someone made her feel like she had just seen him for the first time in her life.

Maybe he was still upset after having been turned to stone. Surely he wouldn't have done that if he had had more time to calm down and come to terms with what had happened. When he woke up, he would be back to normal. He'd probably be horrified by what he had done. She'd have to put her own shock aside and be there for him.

But… It wouldn't change what he had done. Amy hadn't known Sensei very well and hadn't liked him at first when he had told her that he wouldn't let her bring Monty back. However, when he had changed his mind and helped her, she had instantly decided that they would be great friends. She had been meaning to ask him for the recipe of the rice cakes they served in Yamanouchi. Monty might have liked those.

She couldn't wait until Monty woke up and they could leave this dreadful place and go home. Everything would be better in the morning.

* * *

Yori let out a sigh of relief when she first saw the dark silhouette of the Yamanouchi school appear from behind a hill. It was silent and there was nobody outside. Monkey Fist would have brought destruction and battles with him, so he hadn't yet made a move. There was still time to get everyone to safety.

She took the first step down a small path that would take her to the gates. Her ears caught a sudden snap, barely audible, and she whirled around and brought up her hands just in time to block an attack that was aimed at her chest. She retreated a few steps to gain better ground and only now looked up at her assailant.

"Hirotaka?" she asked. The other ninja was wearing a mask, but she thought she could recognise his physique.

The ninja removed his mask, confirming her guess. A crooked grin split Hirotaka's face as he crossed his hands on his chest and chuckled.

"Still can't surprise you," he said. "But I appreciate you dropping by to lighten up my dull guard duty."

"This is not the time for jokes! We have to go to the school and warn everyone!" Yori said.

All mirth left Hirotaka's eyes as his smile disappeared. "Did something go wrong?" he asked. Everyone in Yamanouchi knew about their plan to bring back Monkey Fist. Sensei had felt that he couldn't attempt such a risky task if the people at the school weren't comfortable with it. Naturally, everyone had stood behind him. Now Yori wished that someone had had the courage to oppose the old master.

"Everything went wrong. Monkey Fist didn't lose his powers like we expected," Yori explained as they were running down the path to the school.

"What happened?" Hirotaka asked. "And where is Sensei?"

"Sensei is dead." Yori was surprised by how easily she could say those words and how her voice didn't quiver at all. She was almost disappointed by how coldly she could talk about the loss of one of the most important people in her life.

Hirotaka stopped on his tracks like he had hit a wall.

"Dead?" he asked with wide, disbelieving eyes.

"When he realised how powerful Monkey Fist was, he stayed behind to provide us with a chance to escape. I know I shouldn't have left him and that I have forever shamed myself, but it was his last order," Yori explained. Without her, Kim and Ron would have never made it to the safety of the cave. It didn't make her feel at all better, but it at least provided her with a logical excuse to cling to.

"I can't believe it. Sensei can't just --" Hirotaka started.

"There's no time for that! We have to warn the others!" Yori snapped. Hirotaka's stunned and hurt expression made her wince, but she knew they couldn't afford to let their feelings get the better of them now. Monkey Fist could attack at any moment.

Hirotaka nodded, though he still looked like he needed some time to put himself back together. "Right. Let's take this shortcut," he said.

Their arrival had already been noticed by the time they made it to the gates. A few of the teachers had come to greet them and Yori could see curious students, some still in their nightwear, staring at them behind corners and trees where they thought nobody could see them.

They stopped before a ninja who was the oldest teacher after Sensei. Yori gave him a hasty bow.

"Akino-sensei, the ritual went wrong. Monkey Fist was released, but his powers were stronger than ever before. He will come for the school," she explained, trying to gasp for breath between words. The pain in her chest made her feel like a charcoal was stuck in her lungs.

"Where is Sensei?" Akino asked.

"Monkey Fist killed him," Yori said.

This awoke startled gasps from the others and they started talking to each other in hurried tones. Students were blabbering to each other in disbelief while the teachers could only stare blankly at Yori. Though they were all ninjas, at that moment everyone lost their composure for a short while.

"Sensei can't be dead!" someone announced from the crowd.

"Someone like Monkey Fist could never defeat him!"

"What will we do now? If he killed Sensei --"

"He did not kill Sensei!"

There was a sharp clap of hands. "Silence, everyone!"

Everybody turned to look at Akino. The man's greying brows were furrowed in a grim frown and his lips formed a tight line. Yori held her breath as she waited for him to say something. She had always been a little wary of the tall man because of his grim nature, but now she wanted to feel like she could trust him.

"If Yori speaks the truth, Sensei has fallen while defending the school. What would he think of us if he saw us arguing like this at a time of danger?" Akino asked. He didn't give anyone the chance to reply but continued, "There is no time to lose. We must prepare for battle."

Yori opened her mouth to object, but she changed her mind before she could say a word. What she would propose would be scandalous.

However, Akino didn't miss her uncertainty. "Do you wish to say something, Yori?" he asked.

"Sensei said that Stoppable-san should defeat Monkey Fist. He left us the means to do it in the cave. I think he had some type of plan," she said. For a reason she couldn't name, she felt a little uncomfortable telling Akino about the cave.

"I don't think it's wise to leave the fate of the school on the shoulders of a teenager. Even if he could defeat Monkey Fist, it would do us dishonour to hide behind his back," Akino said.

"It's not hiding. It's knowing our place," Yori said with more ire than she meant. She didn't want to be disrespectful towards a man who would take Sensei's place now, but there was no time to waste on useless pride and foolish plans.

"We already left the school like cowards when the Yono was released for the first time," another ninja pointed out. He got angry glare from Akino for daring to partake in the argument, but the older teacher didn't try to correct the man.

"And that's why you don't know what we're up against. Monkey Fist is more dangerous than you can imagine. Sensei wouldn't --" Yori started.

"Sensei is dead. We cannot make our plans based on what he might have wanted," Akino said. He gave Yori a thoughtful look and pursed his lips. "Especially since it appears that you are the only one he told about his plans. None of us knows anything about this or the cave."

Yori frowned in confusion. Why wouldn't Sensei talk to his most trusted men? The items in the cave proved that he had thought something might go wrong, so why hadn't he prepared anyone at the school for it? None of this was making any sense to her anymore and she suddenly felt like there was nothing more she could say. She glanced at Hirotaka from the corner of her eye, wondering what he was thinking.

"Maybe Sensei had his reasons," she finally said.

"That's enough, Yori. We have no time to waste arguing here. Go with the others and help them prepare our defences," Akino said. His icy tone invited no objections and he turned around on his heels before Yori even had the chance to open her mouth. She swallowed her retort and turned to look around. All of her schoolmates were moving along to follow Akino's orders. She didn't know what to do.

Yamanouchi had been her home for years and she was ready to die defending the school, but at the same time she felt that her destiny was pulling her towards Kim and Stoppable-san. She'd have to choose and no matter what she did, she'd be abandoning someone.

"Aren't you coming?" she heard Hirotaka ask.

"I'm not sure this is right. Sensei wanted Stoppable-san to do this," Yori said.

Hirotaka couldn't keep the small grimace away from his face. "And you think he can do that?" he asked.

"Sensei had complete faith in him," Yori said. Hirotaka had never met Ron and hadn't seen how well he could do when he put his mind to it. It was no surprise that he was suspicious, but Yori was growing tired of people questioning Sensei's words.

"I know, but it's hard to trust Stoppable-san. I don't even know him," Hirotaka said.

"But you know me and you knew Sensei. None of us here in Yamanouchi can defeat Monkey Fist. He will crush us," Yori said.

"We haven't trained so long for nothing. We have to at least try," Hirotaka said stubbornly and started to turn away.

The memory of the Yono blasting through the gates to Yamanouchi and turning everyone around her to stone flashed through Yori's mind. She'd never forget the horror of seeing the petrified forms of Sensei, Kim and Rufus and the fear that she may have lost them forever.

She grabbed Hirotaka's arm and stopped him from leaving.

"You haven't seen what I have. Please, don't throw your life away foolishly like that," she pleaded. She and Hirotaka hadn't been close friends for most of their time in Yamanouchi, but she respected his skills and liked the American style jokes he had brought back from Middleton. She didn't want anyone in Yamanouchi to get hurt, and the thought of Hirotaka dying chilled her to the bone.

Hirotaka blinked as he looked at her worried face. He cracked a crooked smile at her. "Don't worry. I can handle this," he said. He pulled his arm away and went to join the others, but he looked at her over his shoulder once more. The smile that Yori had liked in the past angered her now. Was Hirotaka really that blind or was this some type of male pride matter for him?

She stood there for one more moment, wondering if she should run after the others and join them or try to change their mind. The longer she thought about it, the stronger the nagging feeling inside her became. This wasn't her place. She was meant to be with Kim and Stoppable-san.

Leaving her comrades to their fate pained her, but they weren't going to believe her. Her only chance of saving them was to go back to her friends in the cave and try to understand what Sensei had meant. Maybe they could come back and defeat Monkey Fist before he attacked the school.

* * *

Kim sat with her back against the wall and kept an eye on Ron. Yori hadn't come back yet and Wade hadn't called them to inform them about the progress of his research, so there wasn't much the two of them could do. Hana was sound asleep by Ron's side. Looking at her made Kim bite her lip in frustration; someone so small shouldn't have to be part of all this.

She wanted to go to Ron and comfort him, but she didn't know what she could have done. It pained her to see him so hurt and confused, but she had never been very good at dealing with these situations. She usually solved her problems by charging at them full force, but this method wouldn't work this time. No matter how much she'd kick and punch, it wouldn't bring Sensei back.

"Hey, we'll make it through this," she finally said when she couldn't take the silence any longer.

Ron lifted his eyes from the floor. "How, KP? Sensei is gone. What can we do without him?" he asked.

"We've beaten Monkey Fist before. He's just an overgrown ape with delusions of grandeur," Kim said, trying to make her voice sound cheerful and encouraging. It sounded fake even to her. It was true that it would be hard to do anything about Monkey Fist when he had his new powers. She didn't know how to fight against magic.

"Back then he didn't have the powers of the Yono," Ron replied.

"Yeah, but… You have the Lotus Blade, right? And your monkey magic," Kim countered. She'd never forget the power that had radiated from Ron when he had defeated the Lowardians. It was then that she had realised that Ron was far stronger and more capable than she had ever given him credit for. Once the shock of the moment had faded away, she had felt almost ashamed by how she had been thinking about him in the past.

Ron sighed miserably. "I can't use them without Sensei. I wouldn't have defeated the Lowardians if he hadn't been there," he said.

"That's not true," Kim said, barely able to stop herself from snapping. "You did it because you're strong and a hero. It was all your doing." She walked over to him and sat down by his side, taking his hand into hers.

"Besides," she continued, "I trust you completely and I won't let anyone put you down. That includes you. You have what it takes to bring Monkey Fist down, and I'll be there to help you."

That got a small chuckle out of Ron. "That sounds like you're my sidekick," he said.

"Well, this time I could give it a try. Switching can be fun," Kim replied. She gave him a small peck on his cheek. "But don't get used to it."

She would have liked to sit there for longer, but they were expecting news from Wade any moment now. She told Ron that she'd go outside for a bit to see if he had anything to say.

There was a loud beep from the Kimmunicator almost as soon as she made it out of the cave. Kim pulled out the small device, and Wade's face appeared on the screen.

"Please tell me you have good news," she said.

"I managed to find a translation for the phrases you scanned me, but it's horribly vague. I think the only person with the skills to translate this properly would be Monkey Fist," Wade said.

"Yeah, good luck with asking him," Kim muttered.

"I'll be sending the translations over right away. If you need anything else done, just ask," Wade said.

"Will do. Right now we just have to figure out how we can defeat Monkey Fist," Kim said.

Wade typed something. "There. I'm not sure what all this stuff means, but I hope you can do something with it," he said.

"Thanks. We'll let you know how it's going," Kim said. She opened the file that Wade had sent to the Kimmunicator and quickly scanned through it. Most of it didn't make sense to her either, so she figured it would be the best to wait for Yori to get back and then hear what she and Ron had to say.

She pursed her lips in slight annoyance. She couldn't wait until they'd get this ancient legend phase past them and could move onto kicking Monkey Fist's butt.

"Kim, what are you doing out here?" she heard a voice say behind her.

The red-heard whirled around, surprised that she hadn't even heard Yori arrive. Had to be the ninja training.

"Wade just sent us the translations. How did it go in Yamanouchi?" she replied.

The look of defeat on Yori face's sent a cold shiver down Kim's spine. "Don't tell me that Monkey Fist --"

Yori shook her head. "No, everything was fine, but they wouldn't believe me when I said that we should let Stoppable-san handle this. They want to stay there and defend the school," she said.

Kim could understand that. It was what she would have done, too. Yet she knew that everyone in Yamanouchi was doomed if they wouldn't run before Monkey Fist's power. The simian man was unbelievably strong now.

"Then we have to defeat him before he makes it to the school. Ron isn't going to do this alone; I'll be there with him," she said.

"So will I," Yori said. Kim couldn't help but notice the hesitant frown on Yori face. She probably wanted to go back to the school and stand side by side with her fellow students and teachers. The fact that she had chosen to come back to them instead showed what a good friend she was. Kim couldn't believe it that she had once seen Yori as a threat.

"Let's go back to the cave and see what Wade has sent us," she suggested.

Ron looked up when the two of them entered. There was a spark of hope in his eyes, and Kim hoped that Wade's translations would help them somehow. Seeing her cheerful and easy-going Ron like that made it feel like her heart was clenched inside a fist.

"Anything?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, Wade sent over the translation for the writing on those vases. Let's see what it says," Kim said as she opened the file in the Kimmunicator. She felt a little disappointed by that they didn't have a coherent text but merely short fractions of what looked like a poem.

"The truth will remain hidden until death. The monkey cannot be killed by one of his kind, but petrified love will provide the resolve. Pain and sorrow of the chosen one are the best weapon," she read out loud.

"And?" Ron asked when she paused.

"That's it," Kim said.

"What? But that doesn't help us at all! It doesn't mean anything!" Ron languished. "Didn't Wade say anything else at all?"

Kim shook her head. She didn't want to join Ron in his despair, but if their victory depended on the writings they had found, their situation didn't look very good. She had no idea what she could do with the translations. Again she wished that she could simply punch Monkey Fist's lights out and drag him to a police van.

"That settles it. We're doomed," Ron said.

"Let's not be so hasty. The text is clearly a prediction of some sort. Even if it doesn't tell us much, we can try to guess something from it," Yori said.

"Like what?" Ron asked, a hint of desperate anger in his voice. Then he continued, "I guess the part about death could be about Sensei."

"But what's the truth that was hidden? We already knew Monkey Fist was evil even before he killed Sensei," Kim pointed out.

"Maybe it refers to how we thought we would be able to control him and only Sensei's death showed us that someone like Monkey Fist must not be allowed to roam free in the world?" Yori suggested.

"Yeah, that makes sense, but it still doesn't help us," Kim said.

"Okay, what about the next part? I guess asking the monkey ninjas for help won't work, but how is this relevant at all?" Ron asked.

"It could be about the Yono as well. Or Hana since her powers are connected to those of the Yono. Or it could simply mean that Monkey Fist's downfall will be at the hands of his enemies, not his allies," Yori said.

"If his allies tried to defeat him, wouldn't that automatically make them his enemies?" Ron asked. "I've seen better prophecies in bargain bin video games."

"Whatever. The next part could be about that stone power Monkey Fist now has. It sounds like someone will be turned into a statue, just like last time. If it's about love, it could be DNAmy," Kim said. Her words made everyone stare at each other in grim determination.

"I can't let that happen again, not to anyone. Last time I thought I had lost so many people," Ron said.

"How many times do I have to say that it wasn't your fault?" Kim asked. She couldn't understand why Ron wouldn't just let it go. He hadn't been there, so he could have done nothing to help. Nobody had been hurt in the end, and it wasn't like they weren't in dangerous situations on all of their missions.

"If I hadn't stolen the Mystical Monkey Power, none of this would have ever happened. You'd all be safe, but you're not because I got you into this. Monkey Fist wouldn't want to hurt you without me," Ron countered. He sounded so frustrated and pained that Kim couldn't decide if she wanted to pound some sense into him or hug him and never let go.

"It wasn't your fault," she repeated. "Monkey Fist is a psycho. And what about all the other bad guys? They wouldn't be after you without me."

"And you didn't steal the Mystical Monkey Power. You took what was rightfully yours," Yori added.

"But --" Ron tried to argue, but Kim interrupted him.

"Enough angsting for now, thanks. Let's figure out how to stop Monkey Fist for good," she said. Her expression softened as she continued, "I know that you're scared, Ron, but don't worry. We'll win this one, like we always do."

"I'm worried about Yamanouchi. They intend to fight, but they don't have a chance against Monkey Fist," Yori said.

Kim nodded. "I have a bad feeling about that."

"Maybe we should go and help them? We have the Lotus Blade and all the things Sensei left us. Some of it must be helpful," Ron said.

"But we don't know how to use them. It would be foolish for you to give your life for nothing," Yori said. In a quieter voice, she added, "Perhaps I should go. I won't be of use to you two, but I might be able to help my comrades."

"Then you'd just die, too. It's not worth it," Ron said.

Yori turned to glare at him with fury and frustration darkening her eyes. "I feel like a coward when I'm hiding here in safety while Hirotaka and the others prepare to give their lives for the school. I'm one of them. I should be there," she said.

At that moment Kim wanted nothing more than to smash something to bits. She could understand Yori's anxiety; she, too, felt like it was a waste of time to sit in the cave and talk when they could have been helping their friends. In the past she had always been able to defeat all of her enemies with force and talent. Now that she couldn't do it, she was at a loss at how to proceed. The thought that people could be dying while she was doing nothing made her feel like she was choking.

"Sensei's clues are meaningless to us, and we won't accomplish anything if we just sit here. We have to do something," she said.

"What?" Both Ron and Yori turned to look at her with hopeful expressions. Kim realised that they saw her as their leader and were putting all their trust in her. At any other moment, she would have been glad, but now it only made her guilty. She had no plan this time.

"We've got to face Monkey Fist. Together we might be able to defeat him. We just have to use his weaknesses to our advantage," she said.

Yori pondered it for a while. "He is very vain, short-tempered and he doesn't think very far when he gets excited. If we plan our moves carefully, we might be able to do something," she said. She didn't say it out loud, but Kim knew that if they hoped to survive the battle, they had no choice but to kill Monkey Fist. Taking another human being's life made her mouth taste like bile, but it had to be done. Monkey Fist had already murdered one dear friend and would do much more if he wasn't stopped for good.

"I have the Lotus Blade. I'll do it," Ron said, surprising both Kim and Yori. At their bewildered stares, he went on, "I don't think Monkey Fist will go down easily. I'm the only one who can use the sword's powers and I think this is why Sensei brought the blade here."

"Ron..." Kim started, but she didn't know how to continue. She wasn't sure what she thought about all this magic and talks of destiny, but she was sure of one thing. She didn't want Ron to do something that might scar him for life. She had seen what he was capable of when he had killed the Lowardians to save her life, but this was different. Monkey Fist was a human, mostly anyway, and he and Ron had a history. Kim didn't want to think about how it might effect Ron to push the long blade through someone and take his opponent's life.

Ron flashed her a sad smile. "Don't worry, KP. I'll do my best," he said.

Kim took his hands into hers and squeezed it. "And I'll be right there with you."

* * *

Monkey Fist didn't open his eyes right away when he woke up. He listened to the near silence in the cave; he could hear Amy's breathing, so she hadn't left. He felt a flare of annoyance at the woman's clinginess. She claimed she loved him more than anything, and yet she never listened to him or considered what was the best for him. It was always about her.

Killing her would be a simple matter with his new powers. Just a flip of his finger and she'd be turned to stone. He entertained himself with the thought for a while, but he decided that if he was going to do something about her, it wouldn't be that easy. When she died, he wanted to make sure it would be slow and that she'd know why she was suffering. He'd come up with something wonderfully ironic later, but now he had more pressing matters at hand.

He opened his eyes and got up on his feet. He had been exhausted when he fell asleep, but now he could barely stand still with his new-found energy. He couldn't stop a grin from splitting his face as he thought about Yamanouchi and how he would crush the school. It would be another delicious bite of revenge.

Monkey Fist walked over to the opening of the cave and watched how the sun slowly appeared from behind the mountains in the horizon. He found it fitting for the situation. It was the dawn of a new life for him and of suffering and death for his enemies. He'd savour every moment of it.

He returned to the cave after a few more minutes. Amy was sleeping on the floor, but he barely looked at her as he surveyed the rest of the cave. A hovercraft was parked to the back and there were some supplies that Amy had brought along. Monkey Fist realised that he wasn't feeling hungry at all. Maybe he didn't have to eat now that he had been blessed with the powers of the Yono. The thought of having shed the shackles of mortality made him chuckle.

He heard a shuffle from behind him. When he turned to look, he saw that Amy had woken up and was rubbing her face as she yawned.

"Morning, honey bunny," she said, but she didn't sound at all like her usual self. Monkey Fist supposed that she wasn't a morning person.

He only grunted as a response because he didn't want to encourage her further by being even remotely nice to her. He probably should have left before she woke up.

Amy didn't seem bothered by his lack of response. She walked over to the hovercraft and pulled out a pink bag that had an Otterfly pattern stitched to its side. Monkey Fist guessed Amy had made it herself.

"There's a little spring down the path. I'm going to go and get a little freshened up," Amy said. She flashed him a suggestive grin and lifted her brows. "Want to join me?"

"No!" Monkey Fist snapped and shuddered with disgust.

"Well, if you change your mind, you know where to find me!" Amy said as she walked outside. Now that he knew that Amy was out there, wearing fewer clothes than he cared to see her in, Monkey Fist wouldn't have left the cave even if it had started to collapse on him.

He took another look at the hovercraft and went through Amy's supplies. He didn't know if he should have been happy or dismayed to see that she had included his favourite brand of tea into her breakfast basket. How had she found out what he liked? He wouldn't have been surprised if she had been spying on him.

With his recently acquired powers, he didn't need to eat or drink. It didn't mean that he couldn't if wanted to. Starting a day without tea was unheard of, so he took out the tea and started preparing it with a small gas cooker he found underneath all the food. By the time Amy came back, wrapped in pinks towels all over, he was half-way through his first cup.

"Oh, you've made tea. That was really nice of you," she said.

"I made it for myself," Monkey Fist said.

Amy didn't seem to hear. She went to take a cup for herself and sat down before him. For a while they sat in silence, which surprised Monkey Fist a little. Silence was not something he was used to in Amy's presence.

"So, are you ready to go home?" she asked after a while.

"I'm not going anywhere. I have unfinished business here," Monkey Fist said.

"Are you going to chase Kim and her friends? They're probably far away from here by now," she said.

Monkey Fist shook his head. "Wherever they're at the moment is irrelevant. I plan to take over the ninja school and place myself as the head of whatever will remain of it," he said. He wasn't sure if he'd actually have anyone left to rule once he was done. The Yamanouchi ninjas were fiercely loyal to their school and Sensei's death had probably only strengthened their determination. Too bad they weren't all like Fukushima, easy to manipulate and bend to his will.

"That doesn't sound very good," Amy said with a worried frown.

"Not for them, perhaps, but for me it is terrific," Monkey Fist said. He finished his tea and got up on his feet. There was no reason to wait any longer. Yamanouchi would be his before nightfall.


	4. Eleven B

Here comes the second part of #11. This half has some more character deaths, violence and dark themes, so don't read this if it isn't your cup of tea.

I'm sorry if this half feels a little rushed or like an anticlimax. The story kept getting away from me, and I realised it no longer had that much to do with Monty and Amy, so I decided to give it a mercy killing before it turned into The Epic Adventures of Yori or something.

**ME MONTY, YOU AMY**

**011b**

Hirotaka kept a close eye on the gates of the school from his hiding place by the wall. He was dressed from head to toe in white ninja garb that helped him disappear against the pale stone. He couldn't see any of his comrades, but he knew they were there. Their presence gave him a sense of security, but he wished Yori had decided to join them.

He couldn't understand what was wrong with her. Her loyalty should have been with Yamanouchi, not with the Americans. Hirotaka knew Kim was a great warrior worthy of their respect, but one glance at Ron had been enough to make him doubt both Sensei and Yori's high opinion of him. This lad who kept stumbling over his own feet was what all the fuss was about? This was the guy Yori had been pining for all this time? It was almost insulting.

The young ninja turned his thoughts back to the current situation. If Monkey Fist tried to come through here, they would stop him. Maybe that would show Yori that they didn't need others to fight their battles for them. Hirotaka was determined to prove that whatever Yori's beloved Stoppable-san could do, he could do it better.

He spotted a black dot moving in the distance and shielded his eyes from the sun. What was it? At first he thought it could be some sort of animal, but as soon as the dot got a littler closer, he realised that Monkey Fist was walking towards them like he had no worries in the world. His black gi made him stand out against the ground as the perfect target.

He's a fool. This will be even easier than we thought, Hirotaka thought to himself with a smirk. He made a small hand gesture to make sure that his comrades were alerted to the situation as well. He checked that his weapon of choice, a long wooden staff, was secured on his back. He probably wouldn't get to face Monkey Fist since the older ninjas wanted the honour, but it didn't hurt to be prepared.

It took Monkey Fist only about ten minutes to make it to the gates of Yamanouchi. Hirotaka noticed a short woman following him in the distance, but one look at her made him decide that she was of no importance. He hadn't met DNAmy personally when she had come to ask for their help, but he knew she was no danger in combat.

Monkey Fist stopped to stand before the closed gates with his hands on his hips. For a while he only stood there and gazed up at the walls, tapping his foot on the ground. Hirotaka had the perfect view to the man's face. His fingers clenched around his staff as he saw the impatient frown on the man's features. Monkey Fist had killed Sensei, the greatest man Hirotaka had ever known, and he didn't even look ashamed by it.

"Well," Monkey Fist finally said, "isn't anyone going to come and greet their new master?"

The ninjas didn't move from their hiding places. Akino had given them clear instructions to stay put until he gave the order to attack. Lashing out was very tempting, though. Hirotaka needed only one leap down and he'd be within striking distance.

"Very well. It looks like I'll need to make a few changes around here," Monkey Fist said. He brought his hands together before his chest as they started to glow yellow. Without a warning, he turned his palms outwards like he was going to strike the gate. The next thing Hirotaka knew was that the wall was shaking with a violent rumble that almost made him lose his balance. Everything had happened so fast that at first he didn't know what was going on, but then he saw the smoking remains of the wooden gate.

Just like with the Yono, he thought, recalling how they had had to re-build almost the entire school after the previous attack against it.

He watched how Monkey Fist walked through the rubble and stopped at the centre of the front yard.

Akino stepped out from the main building and took his place on the porch. He had his hands hidden inside his sleeves. The pose looked relaxed and harmless, but meant that he probably had weapons hidden in his hands. Hirotaka didn't think such tricks would work against Monkey Fist. The man was a westerner, yes, but he was also a ninja.

"You're not welcome here," the old teacher said to the simian man.

"That has never stopped me from crashing parties before. But I'm not interested in needless chitchat. Either you surrender and become my slaves or I will kill you," Monkey Fist stated matter-of-factly.

"You obviously do not know the place you've infiltrated," Akino said. He stepped down from the porch and started advancing towards Monkey Fist with calm steps. The other man didn't move or try to prepare himself in any way.

"I think I have a fairly good idea. If defeating you is as easy as breaking in and stealing the Lotus Blade, this won't take long," Monkey Fist said.

Akino's face betrayed no emotion as he suddenly pulled his hands out of his sleeves and revealed two long knives. Moving so fast that Hirotaka had trouble following the movement, he slashed out with the blades and attempted to slash Monkey Fist's throat open to give him a quick death. They all wanted him to suffer after what he had done to Sensei, but there was no time to be unprofessional. If he really was as powerful as Yori claimed, they needed to take him down fast.

Monkey Fist had been expecting the attack and dodged just in time so that the knives only scratched his skin and barely drew blood. He kicked the weapons from Akino's hands and struck the old man to his side so that he fell on his knees to the ground. He tried to get back up, but another kick from Monkey Fist made him roll to his stomach. It took all of Hirotaka's willpower not to interfere, but Akino had strictly told them not to attack until he gave them the sign.

"My new powers have granted me strength and new abilities. I might even have superior healing, so I could have let you have your way. It would have made for an impressive scene, but I'm afraid I'm not very keen on having a first-hand experience on what it feels like to suffer of blood loss," Monkey Fist said.

He bent down to lift Akino up by the front of his gi. A grin split the monkey man's face from ear to ear.

"You, on the other hand…"

Hirotaka couldn't help but gasp when Monkey Fist shoved his hand into Akino's stomach and then pushed the old man to the ground, his fist dark with his victim's blood. Akino's eyes were wide open and he could only sputter something incomprehensible in his surprise.

As far as Hirotaka was concerned, to heck with waiting for the sign. He leapt out of his hiding place, hoping that Monkey Fist would be too occupied with watching Akino cling onto his life. If he made it to the simian man fast enough, maybe they could still do something to help the old man.

He brought out his staff and struck it at Monkey Fist with enough force to break his spine if it hit the spot he was aiming at. From the corner of his eye, he saw that some of the others had decided to attack as well, but he barely registered their presence. He felt an unfamiliar rush of hatred at the man before him, which made him forget everything he had ever learnt.

Hirotaka thought he could hear someone call out behind him and order them to fall back, but he didn't think twice about it. Many of the others didn't either, and he suddenly found himself in the middle of a disorganized group in which everyone was trying to hit the same target. His perfectly aimed strike was blocked by the katana of the ninja by his side. The painful vibrations that were shot through his arms made him stagger back and see clearly again after his brief insanity.

He blinked and shook his head, wondering how he could have been that foolish. He had acted like a rookie with no experience in combat.

Monkey Fist didn't seem very surprised by the attacks, but he could no longer keep up his indifferent attitude. There were five ninjas charging at him, and in a fair and normal fight he would have already been killed. Hirotaka couldn't claim that he knew what was going on, but it looked like Monkey Fist was using some kind of yellow force field to block all the attacks or at least lessen their impact. His friends weren't having much success with the fight.

He took a look at Akino to see if there was something he could do while everyone else was busy, but he needed only one glance at the old man to know that he was dead. Hirotaka had to swallow and close his eyes to stop the rage that was threatening to take over him again. They had lost two great men in the span of only a few hours. How would the school get over it?

But there was no time to think about that now. He had to join the others and take Monkey Fist down so that they could bring him to justice for what he had done.

A scream brought him back from his thoughts and he turned around just in time to see one of his friends be smashed against the school wall. He didn't get back up again.

Monkey Fist clapped his hands together after a work well done. He was no longer glowing yellow and was standing in the middle of them like he had no reason to be worried about a dozen ninjas who wanted him dead.

"Now that you've let out some steam, how about we talk a little about the situation? You can either see this my way or his way," Monkey Fist said and nodded at the fallen ninja who still hadn't moved.

One of the older ninjas drew back his battle staff and smashed it against Monkey Fist's side, sending him tumbling to the ground with a pained grunt.

"I think I speak for all of us," the ninja said as Monkey Fist was getting up.

"I wasn't expecting any less from you simpletons," Monkey Fist said and pressed his hand against his side, wincing at the bruise. "But being a gentleman and all, I though I'd give you the chance to live."

He brought his hands together and a yellow glow surrounded him. The ninjas watched how he rose above them and how the glow grew brighter and brighter until it was almost painful to look at him.

"Quick! Attack now!" the ninja who had struck Monkey Fist commanded. Hirotaka readied his staff and tried to calculate what would be the best opening for him. There were several others who were closer to Monkey Fist and he didn't want to get in their way. He decided to have their back and attack if they were having trouble.

One of the older students leapt into the air and aimed his battle staff at Monkey Fist's neck. There was a bright flash and at first Hirotaka thought he had hit their enemy and struck through the glow around the simian man. As soon as he could see again, he found himself looking at the petrified form of his comrade. He was frozen in mid-movement and had fallen to the ground like a statue that had been turned over.

The others immediately stopped on their tracks, glaring at Monkey Fist warily and wondering what their next move should be.

Guessing what everyone had to be thinking, Monkey Fist flashed a smile at them and said, "Oh, don't you lot worry. That is a fate I''ll save for a very special person. I simply got a little carried away with my new powers." With that, he snapped his fingers and the frozen man returned to life with a shudder and a gasp for breath.

"I think disposing of you with more impressive methods would be far more satisfying," Monkey Fist continued.

Hirotaka didn't know what he was talking about until only a split second later when the ninja by his side was struck with a blow of yellow energy. The lad released an agonised scream and fell on his knees, the ground beneath him quickly turning red with his blood. Hirotaka wasted only a split second looking at the scene. It was obvious that there was nothing he could do to help, so he turned his attention to bringing down the enemy and avenging the death of his fallen comrades.

He barely had time to steady his weapon and take the first steps towards Monkey Fist when one of the other ninjas was thrown against him. Hirotaka felt how the blow sent his staff flying from his hands, and he heard a sickening crunch from his shoulder when he hit the ground. Terrible pain shot through the right side of his body, and he had to bite at his tongue to keep from yelling out loud.

The young ninja tried to shove the fallen man from on top of him, gasping as he was forced to lean on his injured arm. The man was still alive, but his injuries were too severe to be healed. Monkey Fist's yellow glow had burnt the front of the man's body so that Hirotaka couldn't recognise him.

Swallowing the bitter taste in his mouth, Hirotaka finally pushed the man away. The angry and pained cries from his fellow ninjas filled him with the urgency to get up and go and help them, but he felt too dazed to do anything. When he got on his feet, he only managed to take a few steps before falling down on his knees.

He grabbed a blade that someone had dropped on the ground. There was no time to look for his staff. Forcing himself up again, Hirotaka swore that he would either help the others to kill Monkey Fist or go down while trying.

Despite his determination, he couldn't help but admit that he should have listened to Yori. He had been too proud and maybe even jealous of Ron and Yori's trust in him to think clearly. It wasn't the first time he let his pride cloud his judgement, but it looked like it could very well be the last.

* * *

There was not much left to be seen when DNAmy arrived at Yamanouchi. She entered through the broken gates and stopped on her tracks when she saw the destruction within the walls. Black and white-clad bodies were scattered all over the front yard, some of them lying in pools of blood and others twisted in positions that made her regret that she had had any breakfast.

Monkey Fist was standing in the middle of the yard. His stern gaze wandered over the bodies and there was a faint smirk playing on his lips as he reviewed his handiwork.

"What happened here?" Amy asked. She thought she should have gone to her love, but her feet refused to move. Despite having quite an impressive track record as an evil scientist, she had never seen a dead body before – now she was looking at at least two dozen of them.

Monkey Fist turned to look at her with an expression of slight surprise on his face.

"What are you still doing here?" he asked. His puzzlement turned into annoyance before Amy could even attempt to reply, and he turned his back on her with a frustrated growl. He began marching towards the main building, not even glancing at her over his shoulder.

"Monty, wait!" she called out. She knew she should have gone after him, but she couldn't make herself walk over the bodies that were between them.

He disappeared into the house, and she was left alone outside. She felt like she had just been crushed between block of ice so that it didn't quite kill her but made breathing almost unbearable. Why was Monty being so cruel to her now? What could have changed him so much? Why wasn't he being his playful self again, running away from her all the while actually wanting her to catch up with him?

Amy didn't know what to do. Monty had never acted like this before. Maybe he was still upset from having been turned to stone. If that were the case, she should have run right after him and comforted her love while he was having his crisis, but she found she could not. The thought of wrapping her arms around his shoulders and hugging him close against her chest right after he had murdered all these people didn't feel very romantic.

"My stupid honey bunny," she muttered to herself on the verge of tears. Why did he have to be so horrible when they could have finally been together?

A sudden noise to her left caught her attention. Amy frowned in confusion and turned to look. It was as if the sound was coming from a pile of bodies, but that was too macabre to even think about. She had no trouble believing that corpses could be brought back to life, but that was in laboratory conditions after a series of specific experiments.

The bodies and the crispy stench that they were releasing made her want to get as far away from them as possible, but her curiosity had been aroused now. She pushed her hurt feelings aside for the moment and took a careful step towards the bodies. She could see that there were three people, but she wasn't sure if they were male or female. They had been burnt too badly and almost all of their hair was gone. Their faces resembled rubber.

"Hello?" she called out.

A pained groan emerged from the pile of bodies, and at first Amy thought that she really was about to face an undead zombie. Then the silliness of the idea struck her and she arrived at the only logical conclusion – someone was still alive.

She grabbed a hold of the nearest body and shoved it aside. This made the person on the bottom of the pile emit another wail, and Amy felt worry and protectiveness flare up inside her. She hated seeing anyone hurt. Whatever her Monty-wonty would say about it, she couldn't just walk away from someone who needed help.

After moving one more body, she finally made it through to the person she was looking for. He was bloodied and charred like the others, but his face was mostly unharmed. Amy could see that it was a young man.

"Are you alright?" she asked and realised what a stupid question it was when the man's face twisted in agony.

"Help... help me," the man muttered. His eyes were glazed and he wasn't even looking at Amy. She realised that he was probably in shock and had no idea what was going on, other than that he was hurting.

"Oh, don't worry. I'll take care of you," she said and bent down to get the man up on his feet. The sudden movement and Amy's hands against his burnt skin made him cry out, and Amy let go of him in surprise. The young ninja fell back down with a groan. He tried to gasp for breath, but it quickly turned into pained sobbing as he slowly became more aware of the agony he was in.

Seeing another human being in so much pain was too much for Amy. She fidgeted on her spot and tried to think of something, _anything,_ that she could do for this poor man. She felt sick to her stomach when she looked at him and his injuries. Why had Monty done this? How could he have been so cruel and heartless?

"No, don't cry," she whispered to the fallen ninja as she went back to helping him, but she couldn't stop even her own tears from flowing.

Some time later she had managed to bring the ninja to one of the rooms in the school. She had laid him down on the softest mattress she could find and was currently taking his clothes off him. It was careful work for the young man had many burns and removing his clothing was slow and painful. Every groan he let out pierced Amy's heart and made her love Monty less and less. She was glad he hadn't yet noticed that she was helping one of his enemies. She didn't know what she'd do, but she wouldn't let Monty kill this man.

She wondered what Monty was up to as she made her way through the deserted corridors of the Yamanouchi school, looking for medical supplies. She didn't like leaving her patient alone, but she hoped that Monty would be too occupied with his victory and further plans to wander around and find him.

This could be it, she thought as she entered a small room whose walls were lined with shelves. She looked into a jar and saw that it was filled with some sort of ointment. Amy didn't know anything about natural healing or Japanese herbs, but this had to be better than nothing.

"What are you doing?" came a low voice behind her, and she almost dropped the jar in surprise. She whirled around on her heels and found herself staring at Monkey Fist's blue eyes. How come she had never noticed how little emotion they held?

"Oh, honey bunny! You startled me!" she exclaimed.

"I asked you a question. Why have you been wandering around the school?" Monkey Fist inquired.

"I'm just trying to get to know the place. I've never been to a real secret ninja school before. I'm so excited!" Amy said quickly. She felt guilty about lying to him. Even now that his actions made her sick, she couldn't help but entertain herself with thoughts of making him feel better. If she loved him enough, maybe he would be alright again.

"This school belongs to me now. I will make it the headquarters of my world order, and I don't need you here," Monkey Fist said. Amy was half-expecting him to use his new magic on her and kill her, just like he had slaughtered all the ninjas outside, but it never happened. She took a closer look at him and realised that his breathing was shallow and that he wasn't standing straight, like he had trouble staying on his feet.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"I'm fine," Monkey Fist snapped. "My powers are growing fast. Yesterday I could only kill one man before collapsing, but today I've defeated an army. Soon enough nothing will stop me." The satisfaction in his low voice made Amy feel shivers go down her spine. She had often imagined that same voice whispering romantic words into her ear.

"Why did you have to do it?" she asked before she could stop herself.

Monkey Fist looked genuinely puzzled. "Do what?" he asked.

"Kill all those people! They didn't deserve to die, but you murdered them all! Why? Why did you do it?" Her voice grew higher with each word and advanced at him until she was able to slam her fist into his chest. At first he was too stunned to do more than stare at her in bewilderment.

"What's got into you, you stupid woman? Since when do you care about anything but your horrible creations?" he snarled and shoved her aside.

Amy yelped as her back hit one of the shelves and several jars fell down and crashed on the floor.

"I may have done some bad things, but I'd never commit a massacre like that," she said. Her voice was shaking and she had to fight back tears. She realised that she wasn't crying for Monty or the ninjas he had killed. Rather, it broke her heart to see that all this time she had been in love with a monster who could never love her back. She had been blind and stupid, and it was partly her fault that all this had happened. If she had just moved on and let Monty rot underground in his stone prison, nobody would have had to die.

"I never wanted this," she said mostly to herself as she got back on her feet.

Monkey Fist chuckled, and his expression turned from fury to amusement. "But I thought you loved me. Doesn't love forgive everything?" he taunted.

"I hate you!" Amy snapped. To her surprise, Monkey Fist took a step closer to her with that horrible smirk playing on his lips. Amy tried to back away from him, but there was nowhere for her to go.

"Do you now?" Monkey Fist asked once he had closed the distance between them. He reached out with his hand and caught Amy's chin painfully. She was too stunned to do more than stare at him and listen to her thumping heartbeat. To her disgust and disappointment she realised that her heart was beating so loud only half out of fear; some part of her still wanted this man.

"Leave me alone!" she yelled and shoved his hand away. She made a desperate dash past him towards the hallway. If she spent another moment close to him, she might lose control and try to hug him, just like in the past. After that taunting look in his eyes, she didn't know if he'd kill her or let her have her way with him to hurt her more.

"I'm not done with you yet!" Monkey Fist snapped and ran after her.

"What do yo want from me?" Amy asked.

"What do you think? How long have you been tormenting me and embarrassing me? Do you think I will forget it that easily?" Monkey Fist replied. He was taking his time and strolling calmly after her. Amy got the feeling that even if she ran as fast as she could, she would never get away from him.

The same thought had occurred to Monkey Fist as well. "My, my. Isn't this ironic? Maybe you now know what it feels like to have nowhere to run," he wondered.

"I never wanted to hurt you, Monty. I loved you! I only wanted for you to be happy!" Amy said.

"Oh, please!" Monkey Fist snapped. "You never cared about me! It was all about you and making me happy on your conditions! You never stopped to listen to me or consider what I might want! I'm not the kind of man who lets anyone control me. Now that I have the power to do so, I intend to enjoy my revenge."

The hallway had come to an end and Amy had nowhere to go. There was a sliding door behind her back, but her fingers were so numb that she had a hard time trying to open it.

"What... what are you going to do?" she asked.

Monkey Fist's smile was almost charming. "Well, what do you think?"

Finally Amy got the door open. She ran through it and slid it shut behind her, as if that was going to stop the man pursuing her. She was still clutching the jar of ointment in her hands, but her mind was far away from the injured ninja. All she could think about was her own life and what a fool she had been.

She ran outside and made it back to the front yard of the school. She was planning to get back to her hovercraft and go back home before Monkey Fist could hurt her, but she stopped on her tracks when she saw that she wasn't alone.

Kim Possible and her friends were standing before the school, staring at the bodies and destruction around them in stunned stupor. If Amy hadn't been so terrified herself, she would have been chilled by the silent pain she saw in the youths' eyes.

Yori was the first one to recover from her shock. "What have you done?" she screamed and advanced a few steps towards the geneticist.

"It wasn't me! Monty did it!" Amy said.

"I don't care who's responsible! You've killed my friends, my comrades! Everyone I ever cared for..." Tears were streaming down Yori's cheeks, and her whole body was shaking with the intense grief and shock that had taken over her. She turned to look at the bodies around her, desperately trying to recognise familiar faces.

Ron put a comforting hand on her shoulder, but she shoved him away and fell on her knees. She fumbled around with the bodies and tried to see if anyone was still alive.

"Kyo, Yuki, Hirotaka... Please, someone!"

Amy was again struck with the same shame she had felt when she had discovered the injured ninja. She didn't even know his name, but she felt it was her responsibility to make sure he lived – and she had been about to run away and leave him alone with Monkey Fist!

"Yori, you've got to get a hold of yourself!" Kim snapped and pulled Yori roughly on her feet. The ninja tried to struggle, but she was in too much shock to use her full strength against the redhead. Kim had no difficulties controlling the ninja, and soon enough Yori stopped fighting back and only leaned against Kim's chest, crying in uncontrollable sobs.

"Enjoying my handiwork?"

Everyone turned to look when Monkey Fist appeared and stopped to stand before the entrance to the main building. Amy let out a yelp and hurried away from him, moving closer to Kim and the others.

"You! You'll pay for what you have done!" Yori wrenched herself free from Kim's grip and charged at Monkey Fist in blind rage. She didn't even bother to pull out her sharp fans; she wanted to make the man feel pain with her bare hands. Her crying had stopped as quickly as it had started, and now there was only murderous fury in her eyes.

Monkey Fist started walking towards her, but he made no move to dodge her attack or respond to it with his own. Just when Yori was about to reach him, he simply shoved her aside and continued walking. Yori stumbled and fell on top of one of the bodies.

"I have no time to meddle with you now. I'll deal with you later. I have more urgent matters to attend to," Monkey Fist told her without bothering to turn back to look at her. He stopped walking when he was a few steps away from Kim and Ron.

"We're not going to let you get away with this!" Kim snapped. She was trying to look confident, but Amy could see that she was clenching her fists to stop them from shaking, and there was a higher, almost panicked edge to her voice.

Poor thing, Amy thought. Kim probably felt the death of all the ninjas was a failure on her part.

"I wasn't expecting you to come to me straight away, pretender. I thought you'd be cowering in some hole or behind your friends after I killed your Sensei," Monkey Fist said. He fixed his eyes on Ron and didn't even glance at Kim. "And I see you've brought the Lotus Blade. I shall retrieve it once I have disposed of you. You've made my job much easier," he added.

Ron took a better hold of the blade and lifted it a little higher. "Dude, I'm not going to hand it over just like that," he said.

"Yeah, we're ready for you this time. You aren't going to hurt anyone else!" Kim said.

"Didn't we already do this yesterday?" Monkey Fist asked in boredom. "I have much to do, so I don't want to banter. Let's just get this over with."

"Gladly," Kim said as she took a fighting pose. Ron followed her example and lifted the Lotus Blade above his head. Amy found it hard to believe that the boy even knew how to handle such a weapon. It just didn't seem like him, but she wished she was wrong. If someone could stop Monty, it was these two.

Amy noticed that Yori was still sitting where Monkey Fist had shoved her. She seemed frozen on her spot and was staring at the body under her with blind eyes. Amy wondered if she recognised the corpse.

"Hey," she whispered into Yori's ear. The ninja's head whipped around so that Yori was staring at Amy with eyes darkened in anger.

"What do yo want?" she asked.

Amy glanced at Monkey Fist who was busy fighting Kim and Ron. She didn't understand anything about fighting, so she had no idea which side had the upper hand. All she knew was that she wanted to get away from the battle.

"One of your friends is still alive," she said to Yori, certain that Monty didn't have the time to listen to them.

"What? Don't lie to me," Yori snapped.

"It's true! I brought him inside. He's badly hurt, but he lives," Amy said. "Come, I'll take you to him."

Yori frowned. "This is a trap, isn't it? You're working together with Monkey Fist," she said.

The accusing look in the young woman's eyes hurt Amy more than she had expected, but she pushed it aside. This wasn't about her, and she had to stop feeling sorry for herself if she wanted to fix even some of the mistakes she had made.

"Not anymore. He's... he's so mean now! I can't stand him anymore! I should have gone with Dr. Drakken," Amy said. She was getting off topic, so she just grabbed Yori's arm and started dragging her away from the battle. The ninja didn't resist, but she did glance back at Kim and Ron with worried eyes.

"Assuming that you're telling the truth, what is the name of the ninja you saved?" she asked.

"I don't know. He's unconscious, the poor thing," Amy said.

"Is that for him?" Yori asked and pointed at the jar that Amy was holding.

The geneticist had forgotten all about it. "What? Oh! Yes, I thought it might make him feel better," she said. She turned the jar around in her hands. "Is this alright? I have no idea what's inside."

Yori took the jar and opened it. "Yes, I think this – Hirotaka!"

Amy was just able to save the jar from shattering on the floor as Yori dropped it and ran to the side of the injured ninja.

"Hirotaka, are you alright?" Yori took the young man's wrist and looked for a pulse. She let out a sigh of relief when she found it and let his hand fall back down. His body was covered with a blanket, so most of his injuries were out of sight. Yori's hand lingered just above the fabric as she tried to decide whether to pull it aside or not. Finally she made her decision and drew her hand back.

"I want you to take good care of him. If something happens to him, I'll hold you responsible," she said as she got up on her feet.

"Where are you going?" Amy asked.

Yori pulled out a small blade from under her gi. "Kim and Ron need me. We have a plan," she said.

"Are you going to kill him?" Amy blurted out. For some reason, she hadn't even considered that option. She couldn't imagine Kim or Ron taking anyone's life. She had already pictured how they would just knock Monty out and haul him off to prison somewhere.

"There is no other choice. He's too powerful to be allowed to roam free, and we don't know how to trap him into stone again," Yori replied.

"Hasn't there been enough killing already?" Amy asked in a weak voice. She didn't want to see Monty die. She knew it was wrong to feel that way, but she wanted to have one final talk with the man when he was restrained and couldn't hurt anyone. She had to know why he had become like this and why he couldn't love her back.

"One more is all we need," Yori said. She slid the blade back under her clothes and marched past Amy. The geneticist was too afraid to follow the young ninja. After a moment of hesitation, she knelt by Hirotaka's side and began to apply ointment to his wounds.

* * *

Ron hadn't expected that it would be so hard to face Monkey Fist in battle. Sure, he knew that the guy was a kung fu master and that his new powers had given him an edge, but Ron had also improved since they had last met. He had trained along with Kim, and his Mystical Monkey Power was stronger than ever. When he had first held the Lotus Blade, the sword had felt heavy and clumsy in his hand. Now he could lift it with no difficulty and the blade turned into everything he wanted with the faintest of thought.

In fact, it was entirely due to the power of the Lotus Blade that he and Kim were still alive and relatively unharmed. They both had been burnt by Monkey Fist's destructive magic, but Ron had been able to reflect most of it away with the help of the sword. The first time had been just an accident, really, as he had instinctively raised the blade to protect them when Monkey Fist had attacked.

The simian man had been just as surprised by the blade's new power as Ron had been. He had actually ceased from charging at them for a while and only glared at Ron with even more hatred in his eyes, if such a thing was even possible.

"How dare you use Mystical Monkey Power against me? That power belongs to me!" he had raged.

Despite their dire situation, Ron hadn't been able to hold back a smirk. "Check again, monkey man! Someone has graduated with full marks in mystical monkey mojo while you were away!"

He regretted his remark now because it had only increased Monkey Fist's fury and determination to destroy them. The man's attacks were uncontrolled and he struck with no strategy behind his blows. It made it difficult to predict what he would do next, but at the same time it made him blind to everything that was happening around him. Yori had been right; one of Monkey Fist's greatest failings was his inability to think ahead once he was angered.

Speaking of that, where was Yori? Ron had seen her leave with DNAmy when the battle had started. He knew the ninja was capable of taking care of herself in case the geneticist tried to harm her, but Yori had been very distressed by the destruction of the school. It was possible that even someone as relatively harmless as Amy could hurt her.

The thought of what had happened to the Yamanouchi ninjas made Ron's gut twist and his chest ache with pain he hadn't thought possible. These people had been his friends and comrades; they had accepted him among them even though he was a foreigner and had given him all their support. He had never done anything to pay them back for that, and now it was too late. If they had arrived even a few hours earlier at the school, they might have been able to save them.

If Ron had had any doubts about what they had to do to stop Monkey Fist, they were all gone now. The man had crossed the line of being a ruthless but respectable enemy and had descended to utter madness and cruelty. His insanity and thirst for power had reached such heights that it would be a mercy killing.

But where was Yori? She was essential to the plan they had cooked up the previous night. Ron knew he and Kim couldn't keep fighting like this for much longer and if Yori didn't show up soon, everything would go to waste.

"Look out, Ron!" Kim's yell brought Ron back from his thoughts, and he barely managed to turn the Lotus Blade into a shield that he used to block Monkey Fist's magic. He didn't know what the yellow glow would do to him if it found its mark, but the way it heated the blade so that it was almost painful to hold told him that first hand experience wouldn't be nice.

"Thanks, KP!" he called back to his girlfriend who landed neatly to his side, having avoided Monkey Fist's attack with an agile leap backwards.

"She just prolonged the inevitable, pretender. Do you honestly think you're a match to me? You two alone, even after I defeated all these ninjas?" Monkey Fist asked and spread his arms to underline the fact that they were fighting on a yard filled with bodies.

Ron grit his teeth and fought against the urge to just snap and charge at the man. He would only get himself killed.

"Don't get cocky, Monkey Fist. If you're so powerful, how come you haven't got us yet?" Kim asked as she straightened her form and flipped her hair over her shoulder. Ron knew she was acting more confident than she felt, but it made him feel a little better to see her being her usual self. Maybe they had a chance.

"Maybe I've just been toying with you all this time," their opponent said.

"Or maybe you're just saying that because you can't beat us," Ron said. He couldn't really complain. This was exactly what he had tried to make Monkey Fist do the previous day, and now the man didn't even have to be tricked into it. It was their fortune that he was so predictable when he got excited.

"Don't overestimate yourself, boy. Why would I kill you fast when I can enjoy this for as long as I want to?" Monkey Fist asked. He used his magic to rise up into the air and conjured yellow energy balls in his hands. Ron leapt aside just in time and jumped back up after a roll on the ground.

Not fair, he thought. Why couldn't he use Mystical Monkey Power like Monkey Fist was using the powers of the Yono? That blue magic he had used against the Lowardians would be pretty handy just about now. He had thought he had become the Monkey Master, but apparently he still had much to learn.

Then again, it didn't matter. If Yori was able to follow their plan, they wouldn't even need any of that. The Lotus Blade would be more than enough.

Just as Ron was getting anxious about Yori's absence, he saw the ninja exit the main building of the school. He quickly turned his eyes away so that Monkey Fist wouldn't turn around to see what he was looking at.

"I thought you were smarter than that yesterday. Gloating and prolonging the death of your enemy are so cliché. Do you even know what happens to bad guys who do that?" Ron asked. If he got Monkey Fist talking, everything would be easier.

Ron kept his eyes fixed on Monkey Fist's face, trying not to even glance at Yori who was silently sneaking up on the monkey man from behind. Her right hand was inside her gi, holding the blade but not pulling it out yet so that it wouldn't glimmer in the sunlight.

"I don't know if it's stupidity or bravery that you haven't surrended to me. Most others would have bowed before me already," Monkey Fist remarked.

"I take that means no. Well, as someone who has spent half his life watching TV, let me tell you," Ron said. At that exact moment, Yori drew the blade and leapt at Monkey Fist, wrapping her free arm around his upper body and bringing her weapon to the man's throat.

"They get their butt kicked," Ron finished.

Monkey Fist screamed as Yori drew blood, and his magic flared up, lightning his body with bright yellow fire. He threw the young ninja off him and pressed both his hands on the wound as he doubled over. Yori landed a few feet away from him with a pained yelp, but got right back on her feet, still holding the blade.

Ron held his breath as he watched Monkey Fist, wondering how much damage Yori had done. It had all happened so fast that he had barely seen anything.

The fire around Monkey Fist slowly died down, and the man straightened his form. He was still holding his throat, and blood was seeping through his fingers, but there wasn't as much of it as Ron had been hoping. When Monkey Fist removed his hand, Ron could see that the wound was a little bit too much to the side and had only cut flesh around Monkey Fist's neck without even touching the main artery.

Yeah, I guess that would have been too easy, he thought.

"Did you think you could defeat me like that? Me, the new Yono? With a pathetic little assassin?" Monkey Fist rasped. He tried to laugh, but it was too painful and quickly turned into a grimace.

"No, but at least it distracted you down a little," Yori said. She didn't wait for Monkey Fist to reply but charged at him again, this time aiming a powerful kick at his midsection. She yelled out in pain when the man's magic burnt her, but she didn't pull back. Her kick found the target and sent Monkey Fist flying back, right at Ron's feet.

Now was his chance. Ron turned the Lotus Blade back into its original form and brought it down on Monkey Fist who was struggling to get up. The monkey man sensed the danger and rolled to his side, but the blade still pierced his side and gave him a gaping wound.

I can't believe I missed! Ron frantically tried to find another opening, but Monkey Fist called his magic again and rose up into the air before the boy could reach him. The injured man was grasping at his side, face twisted in pain, but his eyes were clear with hatred. Despite that their plan hadn't exactly worked, Ron still felt a sense of triumph at that they had managed to injure their enemy this badly.

"Guess you should have listened to me, huh? A villain who wastes his time always loses," he said.

"I haven't lost yet, nor am I about to," Monkey Fist replied between gasps.

"Then how come we three have been able to not only hold our own against you but damage you that badly? Admit it, your arrogance has yet again been your greatest failure," Kim said and approached the man. Though she didn't voice it, everyone knew what she meant. If Monkey Fist had really only wanted to destroy them, he could have done so without blinking. The bodies scattered all around the yard were enough proof of that. The three of them had counted on that Monkey Fist would be too greedy and vengeful to want to be fast, and it had saved their lives.

"I could say the same about you, Kim Possible!" Monkey Fist spat. He raised one bloodied hand as yellow magic crackled between his fingers. Kim jumped out of the way and managed to dodge the first and second strikes of magic, but the third one hit her in the back and sent her flying against the school wall.

"Kim!" Ron forgot all caution and ran to his girlfriend who had trouble getting back on her feet. She gasped when every movement sent waves of agony through her body, and even from a distance Ron could see that something had broken.

"I'm... I'm okay," Kim said when Ron reached her side. She tried to push his hands away, but he was easily stronger than her.

"No, you're not. Don't move, KP," he said, his voice rising with his panic. Man, there was so much blood! What should he do? Kim!

"But... Monkey Fist..."

"I said don't move!"

"If she wants to be in more pain before death, let her. It doesn't make any difference to me," Monkey Fist said as he approached them. He was floating in the air because walking would have been impossible with his injuries. Ron didn't turn to look, but he could imagine the satisfied smirk on the man's face. It made him shake with fury; he'd see Monkey Fist suffer endlessly for what he had done to Kim.

"You... you, I'll--" he started, but he couldn't find the words for his sorrow and hate. His Kim was lying before him in a pool of her own blood, and he couldn't do anything about it. He couldn't even turn the Lotus Blade into a blanket to make her feel warmer for the blade could only take the form of weapons and tools.

"Ron, go... before he--" Kim whispered.

"I'm not leaving you!" Ron snapped at her. Somehow he'd take her away and she'd be okay. He didn't know how he'd do it, but he had to. He couldn't imagine a life without her smile, without her taking his hand when he was feeling down, without curling up on the coach with her. He had loved her most of his life, and she had always been there for him. He should have been the one to lie there. Monkey Fist was his enemy, and Kim had nothing to do with any of this.

"How touching," Monkey Fist said. He was doing his best to keep up his taunting tone, but his voice had lost some of its menace and power. If Ron had cared at that moment, he would have realised that the man's injuries were holding him back more than he wanted to show.

"In fact, I am so touched that I will let you stay by her side forever. You can watch her die and then observe how her body rots away and how the birds come to pick at her flesh."

Ron knew he should have moved, but it was like his body was frozen on the spot with Kim's hand in his. He feared that if he let go now, he'd never again feel the warmth of her skin. He could guess what Monkey Fist was about to do, but he didn't even turn around to face the man.

"Please help her," he said. "Do whatever you want with me, but don't let her die." He couldn't stop his voice from breaking or the tears from flowing down his face.

"That would spoil my fun, pretender. This is all your fault. If you hadn't stolen my Mystical Monkey Power, none of this would have ever happened," Monkey Fist growled. "And now it's time for your punishment."

Ron felt Kim squeeze his hand as bright light surrounded him and sucked all the warmth from his body. It wasn't a painful sensation, and it was over in a second. He tried to gasp in surprise, but he found that he could not. He could no longer feel Kim's hand in his. The pain from his bruises was gone, and his tears remained petrified on his face.

He could hear Monkey Fist laugh behind him, but he couldn't turn his head to look. His eyes, still seeing for a reason he couldn't understand, were forever fixed on Kim as she struggled to remain conscious. The agony in his heart was still there, even stronger now that all other sensations had been taken away from him.

"How does that feel, pretender? Do you have any idea how long I suffered like that when you abandoned me to my stone prison? I hope you'll enjoy your eternity as a conscious statue," Monkey Fist said.

The monkey man landed on the ground and picked up the Lotus Blade that Ron had dropped.

"I'll be taking this, thank you," he said smugly.

* * *

Yori could only stare in shock as Monkey Fist used his powers and turned Ron into stone. Memories of their previous encounter with the Yono were flashing through her mind. The same thing had happened back then; she had been the only one left when Kim, Sensei and Rufus were turned into statues by the demonic monkey.

She watched how Monkey Fist took the Lotus Blade and caressed it gently like it was a dear friend. Yori grit her teeth so hard that it was painful. How dare that man take what belonged to Stoppable-san and act like it was his?

She knew she had to do something, but she didn't know what. Her instincts told her to charge at Monkey Fist now that he was injured and kill him, even if it meant her own death. Kim was still alive, so maybe Amy would be able to save her then. But if she failed and died without taking Monkey Fist with her, everyone would be doomed. There was no-one else left to fight but her. She had to be cunning and not reveal all her cards.

It was her chance now. Monkey Fist was still admiring the blade and could see or hear nothing. Yori took the opportunity to slip back inside the school unnoticed. Her heart was beating in her chest, feeling like it was about to burst out with worry for Kim and Ron. She couldn't lose the two of them, not after losing everyone in Yamanouchi.

Yori gnawed on her lip as she pondered her options. She would have to be fast. Monkey Fist would come after her soon. She briefly wondered if she would be able to use her familiarity with the school to her advantage and finish the work on the monkey man's throat by surprising him, but she decided it was too risky. She needed to do something that couldn't fail.

Another worry in her mind was Hirotaka. He was all that was left of Yamanouchi, her friends and family. If she lost him as well, she didn't know what she would do. She could only hope that his wounds weren't too bad and that the herbs would –

That's it! Yori stopped on her tracks when the most obvious solution struck her. What fools they had been!

Knowing that she didn't have much time, she started running towards one of the storage rooms.

* * *

DNAmy was no doctor, but she thought she had done a pretty good job on Hirotaka. She had torn some extra gis into shreds and bandaged his wounds after cleaning them and spreading the healing ointment on them. Hirotaka was still unconscious, but Amy thought it was probably a good thing. It was for the best if he didn't wake up before all of this was over.

She glanced at the door with worry. She wanted to know what was going on outside, but she was too scared to leave the safety of the room to go and take a look. For all she knew, Monty might have killed everyone. What would she do then?

What would happen to her babies if she died? Nobody else knew how to take care of them, and they would miss her so much. She had told her dobster, Lucy, that she would be coming back home soon. The creature would be so sad without her.

"I can't just sit here. I have to do something," she muttered. It was her fault that Monty had been set free, and she had done nothing to stop him. If she had listened to what everyone had told her countless times – no, it was time to stop feeling sorry for herself. What was done was done, and she'd deal with the consequences later. Right now she had work to do.

With a determined gleam in her eyes, Amy got up on her feet and walked out of the room. However, she didn't make it very far before she almost ran into Yori who appeared from behind a corner.

"What's going on outside?" she asked as soon as she had found her balance.

"Hurry, take this!" Yori said and pushed something into Amy's hands. It was a folded piece of white cloth. Amy laid it open to find some dried leaves inside it.

"What --" she started to ask, but Yori took her hand and started dragging her towards the exit.

"Monkey Fist is outside. He's pretty badly hurt. I want you to go and help him," she said.

"What? What are you talking about? He'll kill me!" Amy blurted out.

"No, he won't if you're convincing. Tell him that you love him and that you're sorry you didn't trust him. Anything like that," Yori said.

"But why?"

"The Yono's powers come with fast healing, but it takes some time. He will need help with his injuries. He has nobody to trust but you. Once you've made him comfortable, make him some tea and put some of these into it," Yori said, pointing at the leaves in Amy's hand.

The cloth suddenly felt like fire in Amy's hands, and she almost dropped it.

"Is this... poison?" she asked.

Yori nodded. "Yes. He won't taste or smell it. If he takes even one sip, he's doomed. It will make it impossible to breathe and stop his heart."

Amy hadn't thought she would be the one to kill Monty. Just earlier that morning she would have rather died herself than hurt him, and now she was supposed to take his life? "I'm not sure I can do it," Amy said.

Yori squeezed her arms so hard it hurt. "You have to. You're the only one who can do this," she said. When Amy still hesitated, she continued, "Kim is out there. She's injured and could already be dead."

"Kim? But she's a Cuddle Buddy lover like me!"

"And she turned Stoppable-san into stone. The only way to bring him back is to defeat Monkey Fist," Yori continued.

That did it. Hurting another Cuddler was bad enough, but Amy could not bear the thought that Monty had torn Kim and Ron apart. Even if Kim survived, she would never again feel Ron's arms around her if Monty wasn't taken down. The thought of taking the life of the man she had loved so long and so passionately made Amy's hands shake, but at the same time she knew she couldn't leave Kim and Ron in trouble. They might have been her enemies at some point, but they had been willing to risk their lives to help her get her love back. The least she could do was return the favour.

"Alright, I'll do it," she said in a shaky voice and put the poisonous leaves in her pocket.

"I have to see how Kim is doing, but I'll come and keep an eye on you as soon as I can," Yori said.

That didn't make Amy feel much better because she was certain that if something went wrong, it would be the end for her. However, she didn't voice her concerns and simply drew a deep breath when they arrived at the exit. Yori stayed behind while Amy stepped outside.

She immediately spotted Monty. He was on his knees by the wall, clutching his side and trying to find the strength to get back up. His other hand was holding the sword that Amy had seen Ron carry before the battle had started. It took her a moment to realise that the hunching statue next to Monty was Ron.

"Oh, no!" she blurted out before she could help herself.

Monkey Fist heard her and turned around. He didn't get up, but his magic flared immediately, though weaker this time. Now that he was looking at her, Amy could see all the blood that covered him. Someone had tried to slit his throat, and Amy's hand almost flew up to her own in discomfort.

"You. What do you want?" Monkey Fist asked.

"Shh, you shouldn't talk, honey bunny. I've come to help you," Amy said. She did her best not to look at Kim who lay still at the feet of Ron's statue. She couldn't see if the girl was breathing or not.

"I don't need anyone's help anymore. I am invincible now," Monkey Fist said. He slowly gathered his strength and staggered to his feet, never taking his eyes away from Amy. He took one step closer to her, but almost lost his balance when he put too much weight on his injured side.

Amy immediately rushed to his aid and let him lean against her. "Let's just be careful, Monty-poo. I'll take you inside the school where we can take a look at those wounds," she chattered.

"I thought you hated me," Monkey Fist growled, but he didn't resist as they were walking towards the entrance to the main building.

Amy did her best to giggle. "Oh, that was so silly of me. I was just a little surprised by the intensity of yours powers, and it got me a little scared. But now that I've had time to think about it, I realised that nothing can ever change my feelings about you. You're just too cute!" she said.

"I suppose all good things must come to an end," Monkey Fist muttered.

It was just like it had used to be. If it weren't for the bodies around them and the thick smell of blood, Amy could have easily forgotten what had happened and enjoyed this rare moment close to her love. He needed her now. Only a few days ago that would have made her the happiest person in the world. Monty was so right with what he had just said.

Amy led him to an empty room that was as far away from Hirotaka as possible. She laid him against the wall and was about to rush out to get some pillows or blankets for him, but he stopped her before she had even finished talking.

"I don't need those. Just leave me alone," he said, sounding tired all of a sudden.

Since he hadn't resumed his threat to kill her, Amy guessed she was safe for the time being.

"Oh, now, Monty! Someone has to clean your wounds, and I'm just the right person to do it!" she said in a sing-song voice. "You just wait here and let me take care of everything!"

The poison in her pocket felt a hundred times heavier than it should have, and Amy was certain that Monkey Fist knew what she had there. She glanced at him in worry, but his eyes weren't on her at all. He was staring before him with half-closed lids, like he was about to fall asleep.

It's no wonder with those horrible wounds, Amy thought. Magic didn't make one invincible. Poor honey bu-- no.

"Is there something wrong?" Monkey Fist asked, and Amy realised that she had been standing there for a while.

"No! Not at all!" she said.

"You aren't acting like yourself," Monkey Fist pointed out.

"What... what do you mean? Of course I'm being myself," Amy said. "...honey bunny."

"You aren't usually this reserved. You haven't tried to hug me once since we got inside," Monkey Fist said.

The thought hadn't even crossed Amy's mind. Why would she want to hug someone who had tried to kill her?

"That's just because you're injured, sweetie. I don't want to make it worse. But once you're feeling better, I'll cuddle with you and tickle you until you can't breathe anymore! And then you can take me shopping in Tokyo. They have these new Cuddle Buddy --"

"Enough! If you want to help me, do it and shut up," Monkey Fist growled.

Amy decided not to take any more risks. She didn't ask Monkey Fist about Kim and whether she was still alive as she worked on his wounds. There wasn't really much she could do about them other than clean them and put some simple bandages on them, but Monkey Fist assured her that his powers would take care of the healing. Yori's attempt at slitting his throat had already stopped bleeding and looked more like a scrape than a wound. The wound on his side was worse, probably because it had been caused by a magical blade.

"Now, isn't that better?" she asked when she was done on him. She only got a glare in response. "And... how about I make us some tea? I'm sure you're exhausted after all that exercise, and tea would help you relax. Maybe I can find some cookies here, too," she continued.

"That's the first intelligent thing to come out of your mouth today," Monkey Fist said.

"Great! Then I'll just be on my way!" Amy didn't wait for a reply but ran outside so fast that when she finally stopped, her heart was pounding in her chest. After a bit of searching, she found the Yamanouchi cafeteria where lunch had been prepared. She had to avoid looking at the empty bowls and chopsticks on the counter. Nobody would need them anymore.

She could hardly believe she was doing it when she was preparing the tea. The poisonous leaves were carefully laid on the counter. The water was boiling, so all she had to do was to add the poison. Just to be sure, she was preparing two pots of tea. One was for herself and the other for Monty. She didn't want to make him wonder why she wasn't tasting her tea. She was lucky enough to find a pink mug in one of the cupboards. Monty would never choose it, so there was no danger of their teas getting mixed.

It was surprisingly easy to ground some of the poison into the tea. Amy stirred the drink with a chopstick, thinking that it was almost like a scientific experiment. She tried not to think about what it would be like to see Monty die before her eyes. She hoped it wouldn't be painful. Maybe she could explain why she had done it and he would understand and forgive her.

She placed the two mugs on a tray, feeling a little sad about that there were no cookies in sight. In her opinion, dying of poisoned tea without having at least one cookie to go with it was just morbid, but she didn't want to waste any more time. She had to think about Kim.

"It's about time," Monkey Fist said when she returned to him.

"Sorry, sugar-bunny. I don't know my way around here that well," Amy replied. She put the tray before the injured man, and, just like she had predicted, he chose the normal mug while shooting a disapproving glance at the pink mug beside it.

Monkey Fist blew into his tea. "What flavour is this?" he asked.

"I don't know. It was the first thing I found," Amy said. She took the pink mug into her hands to hide how much they were shaking. "I'll taste it for you. Mm, it's great!"

Monkey Fist looked at her for a long time. Just as Amy was starting to think that he was sensing something was wrong, he took his first sip of his tea.

"Not bad," he commented after a while.

Amy guessed this should have been the moment for her to sigh in relief, but she found that she was feeling worse with every passing second. Her stomach felt tight and breathing was the hardest task in the world. She wanted nothing more than to run out of the room so that she wouldn't have to watch what was going to happen. Another part of her wanted to tell Monkey Fist the truth; maybe it wasn't too late yet. Maybe he hadn't drunk a lethal amount and maybe he would love her after she saved his life.

However, she did neither of these things and merely sat there on the floor, having forgotten all about her own tea. A horrible weight landed on her shoulders when Monkey Fist put his empty mug down. It was too late now.

Monkey Fist licked his lips. "I have never had tea quite like that. It made me thirsty," he said. He leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes for a moment of rest. Amy held her breath without realising it.

The first sign she noticed was the slight frown that appeared on Monkey Fist's face. He adjusted his position and attempted to clear his throat, but when it didn't work, he opened his eyes. He looked at Amy with honest confusion.

"What was in that tea, Amy? I'm... having difficulty breathing," he said.

Amy felt the sting of tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry, honey bunny, but I had to do it," she said in a small voice.

"What was in that tea?" Monkey Fist repeated. The confusion on his face slowly turned into anger and then into fear as drawing air into his lungs became more and more of a task. He got up on his feet and approached Amy with a dangerous gleam in his eyes.

"What... what did you put into it?" he shrieked and grabbed her wrists, pushing her against the floor on her back.

"P-poison. The ninja girl gave it to me. I'm so sorry!"

"Poison? You –! I'll --" His threat was cut short, but Amy couldn't tell if it was because he was too out of breath or too angry for words. She whimpered under him and tried to free herself of his grasp, but even now he was too strong for her. Her glasses had been knocked off, and his face was a blurry mess above her.

"I'll kill... you. I swear I'll --" he growled, but he was cut off by the need to breathe. He struggled to catch a breath, but the choking sounds told Amy that he wasn't having much success. His face was covered in sweat and he had shut his eyes. A sudden shudder went through him and he clutched at his heart, finally letting go of Amy.

"I'm sorry!" she said again and pushed the dying man off her. She felt him shake when she touched him. She was glad that the poison was working fast, but she hated seeing him like this. He was so helpless, and she couldn't imagine what he had to be feeling, knowing that he only had minutes to live.

She couldn't stand looking at him in pain like that, so she wrapped her arms around his shivering form and drew him close, ignoring his weak struggle against her. She held him against her chest and ran her fingers through his sweaty hair.

"I always loved you," she whispered. The tears she had felt earlier were now flowing down her cheeks.

Monkey Fist opened his eyes at her words. The pure hatred in them made Amy flinch, but she didn't let go of the man, not even when he started convulsing and drooling.

Let it end already, she prayed silently.

* * *

Yori had been relieved beyond belief when she had run to Kim and seen that the young woman was still alive. Stoppable-san's statue beside her almost broke the young ninja's heart, but she pushed that aside quickly. She couldn't do anything for him, but she might be able to save Kim's life.

"Yo--" Kim started when she saw her, but Yori shook her head.

"No, don't talk. Just lay still; I'll take care of everything," she said. She had quickly grabbed some blankets from the school before coming here, and she did her best to keep Kim warm and stop her wounds from bleeding.

Knowing that Kim wouldn't be satisfied with silence for as long as she was conscious, Yori filled her in on what had happened. She told her about the poison and Amy and that they should have done this in the first place instead of openly confronting Monkey Fist.

"Not my style," Kim said with a weak smile. Her eyes drifted to Ron's statue, and the smile died immediately.

"He will be alright," Yori said. He would have to be.

A sudden thought occurred to her and she started feeling around Kim's wrist until she found the Kimmunicator. She had never used it before, but Japan was the wonderland of technology, so it didn't take her long how to contact Wade.

"What's up Ki – Yori?" the boy genius asked as soon as the connection was opened. His hair was a mess and he had dark rings around his eyes. Yori supposed he hadn't slept at all since the last time they had contacted him.

"Hello, Load-san. Can you arrange some form of transportation to the Yamanouchi school? I will send you the coordinates. A medical helicopter would be the best," she said.

"A medical helicopter?" Wade asked in alarm. "Are you all okay?"

"No, but there's no time to explain. Just be fast, please," Yori said.

"I'm on it," Wade said and typed something like his life depended on it. "Done! I pulled some strings and some people who own Kim a favour should be there in half an hour."

"I hope that's fast enough," Yori muttered.

"So, I take it you guys won? And where are Kim and Ron?" Wade asked.

"It's complicated, but Monkey Fist should be history soon. As for your other question..." Yori moved the Kimmunicator so that Wade could see what had happened to his friends. He let out a loud gasp and was staring at the screen in shock when Yori resumed their conversation.

"What happened there?" Wade asked.

"We underestimated --" Yori started, but then there was a sudden poof behind her. When she turned to look, she saw that Ron had returned to flesh and blood. For a split second he remained in his kneeling position, blinking in confusion.

"I'm... I'm back," he said in daze. Whatever relief he might have felt about that vanished as soon as he remembered his girlfriend.

"Kim! Kim, are you okay?" he asked the barely conscious girl.

"She shouldn't talk. It will drain her strength," Yori said.

"But she'll make it, right?" Ron asked, turning to look at her with such desperation in his eyes that Yori could have never given him a negative answer.

"Of course she will," she assured him. "Load-san has already arranged transportation for us. She will be in a hospital very soon."

Ron let out a deep sigh and his shoulders slumped now that he could finally relax a little. He ran his fingers through his hair.

"I guess that was the end for Monkey Fist," he said.

"I would assume so since you returned to normal. The same happened when the previous Yono was defeated," Yori said.

"I heard you talk about that to Kim." At Yori's questioning look, he quickly explained, "Monkey Fist made it so that I could see and hear what was going on. I guess he wanted me to see Kim die."

"Then he was even more despicable than we thought," Yori said. At this point, nothing could have made her feel the tiniest bit of pity for the man. She could only hope that he had suffered even a little before his death.

"Someone should pick up Hana at the cave," Ron said. They had left the baby there so that she wouldn't be hurt during the fight and because Yori had assured him that nothing would ever happen to her as long as she remained there. She was connected to the cave, and it would always keep her safe.

"I can do that," Yori volunteered. It would give her some time to be alone and think. "Would you mind taking a look at Hirotaka if Kim doesn't need you?"

"Hirotaka?"

"Yes, he's the only one who survived Monkey Fist's attack on the school." Yori could have never guessed how much it would hurt to say those words, but she pushed the tearing agony aside. There was too much to do to appear weak now.

"You can find him in one of the backrooms in the main building. DNAmy should be somewhere there as well," she added.

"I wonder what she's feeling now," Ron said.

Yori did as well, but she honestly couldn't say that it was one of the most urgent things on her mind at the moment. All of this had started because DNAmy had been so determined to have Monkey Fist back. If she hadn't been so blind to what sort of man he was, nobody would have had to die. Sensei would still be in her life, and even now she could be training with her comrades instead of walking through a yard scattered with their bodies. Yori knew this wasn't what Amy had wanted, but she couldn't help but wish that the woman was now feeling just as miserable as she was.

She left Ron and started following the path that would take her to Hana. The silence and stillness around her made it difficult to believe that all of this had happened. At the same time the beauty of the wilderness tore at her heart because it reminded her that Yamanouchi was gone and the mountain valley would soon be devoid of any human life.

Hana was sleeping among blankets when Yori entered the cave. The boxes filled with urns and other mystical items were exactly where they had left them. Looking at them, Yori felt a sudden wave of rage go through her, and she kicked one box so that its contents flew all over the stone floor. She didn't care that an ancient vase broke into dozens of pieces, the writing on it forever lost. In fact, she loved the sound of breaking clay.

All of this had been pointless! If Sensei had brought these items here, it had to mean that he had known something might go wrong. If he had known that, why had he agreed to help DNAmy? If he had just refused her plea, everyone would still be alive. And what had been the purpose of these artefacts in the first place if poison had been the most effective way to defeat Monkey Fist?

She had cried enough that day, but she could still feel her eyes getting moist with anger and frustration. Their victory felt empty, and she had no idea what she would do next.

A quiet sound made her turn around, and she realised that Hana had woken up. The baby was looking at her curiously and with a stern expression. Yori took her in her arms and hugged her close.

"Sorry if I woke you up. I'm just a little upset," she said.

Hana cooed and reached out with her hand to touch Yori's face, like she was trying to make her feel better. Yori couldn't help but smile weakly.

"Yori."

Yori blinked. Her first thought was that Hana had spoken her name, but then she realised that the voice had been too low for the baby. She turned around to look towards the end of the cave where the artefacts were and felt her heart skip a beat when she saw the familiar, glowing figure.

"Sensei," she whispered, not noticing how Hana was giggling and didn't seem at all bothered by the presence of a ghost. She put the baby aside and got on her feet, but Sensei gestured for her to remain still before she made it to him.

"It is better if you do not get any closer. We spirits don't have a good effect on you living," he said.

Yori didn't know what to say. There were a dozen things she _wanted_ to say, but somehow none of them felt appropriate. She couldn't just tell him how much she already missed him, ask him to come back or demand an explanation for the recent events. She put her hand on her mouth to hold back a sob of both relief and pain at seeing her mentor again.

Sensei's eyes were gentle as he looked at her. "Do not worry. You're in pain now, but everything will be alright," he said.

"But why did this have to happen? Why did you agree to help them if you knew something could go wrong?" Yori asked.

"It had to be done. None of us could have lived in peace for as long as the powers of the Yono were unchained," Sensei said.

"But Monkey Fist was trapped in stone. Why didn't we just leave him there?" Yori asked. Sensei's words made no sense.

Sensei shook his head. "Monkey Fist had the powers, but he was not the Yono, regardless of what he thought. The real Yono was released when Monkey Fist took his place. He was weakened, but he would have come after Hana once he had gathered his strength. I could not allow that to happen for Hana is destined for great things in the future," he said. He smiled down at the baby who didn't even try to hide her mirth at getting attention from her friend.

"I'm not sure I understand," Yori admitted. She had never thought much about what had happened to the demonic monkey after Monkey Fist had taken his place, but she had assumed they wouldn't have to worry about him. He had just disappeared.

"The contract with the Yono is merely a trick with the purpose of luring someone to suffer the bad effects of the curse while the real Yono roams free. It is all explained in these artefacts," Sensei said and pointed at the various boxes in the cave.

Yori bit her lip. They hadn't thought those items looked important enough to have their writing translated. Even if they had, would it have helped them at all?

"No disrespect, Sensei, but wouldn't it have been easier if you had told us all this in the beginning?" she asked.

"Yes, but then a destiny would have been left unfulfilled," Sensei replied.

"What destiny?" Yori asked, unable to keep the hurt and anger away from her voice. Whatever Sensei was talking about, it couldn't be worth the deaths of everyone in Yamanouchi and the pain she was feeling!

"Her destiny," Sensei said and nodded at Hana.

"Hana?" Yori said. "This was all about Hana?"

"Yes. She will grow to be a legendary hero and ninja, which is why the Yono would have tried to come after her. Monkey Fist had to be brought back and killed so that his contract with the demonic monkey would be broken. The real Yono has now returned to his imprisonment and won't be a threat to you any longer," Sensei said.

Though numerous emotions and the shock of this revelation were making Yori's head spin, she could see how this made sense now. If they hadn't done this, they would have had to live the following years protecting Hana from evil powers. It might have come to cost them too much. Still, the price they had already paid was no less severe.

"How can she do that? Yamanouchi is gone," she said.

"Not entirely, Yori. You and Hirotaka are still left, and Stoppable-san is there to assist you." Seeing the doubt on Yori's face, he continued, "Sometimes you must burn the field before you can plant new crops. Yamanouchi will rise again, and it will be greater than ever before."

"But --"

"My time here is about to end. I shouldn't have even shown myself to you, but I felt you deserved to understand so that you wouldn't follow an embittered path in your life. Farewell, Yori," Sensei said. He started to fade, and Yori felt a chill in her heart. He couldn't leave her!

"No, wait! We can't do it alone! Please don't go!" she blurted out, but it was too late. She and Hana were again alone in the cave.

For a while Yori only stood there in silence, unable to think clearly or move a muscle. She had wanted to know the truth, but now she found she couldn't process it. Even if it all made sense, she was too hurt to even begin to accept it. She felt an unfamiliar wave of anger at her mentor. Sensei should have talked to them first instead of making all the decisions for them! What would she do now? She knew she couldn't take care of Yamanouchi with only Hirotaka by her side. They hadn't even graduated yet, and nobody would take them seriously if they tried running the school. It was impossible; they couldn't just –

She felt a gentle tug on her leg and turned to look down. Hana had grabbed a hold of her gi and was smiling up at her.

"Oh, Hana," Yori said as she picked up the baby, "I don't know what to do."

Hana didn't reply, but the look in her dark eyes was somehow soothing. Feeling the weight of the baby in her arms, Yori realised what they had all been fighting for and that it had been worth it in the end. If Sensei had spoken the truth, there was a good future awaiting them. The path there might be hard, but she now felt that they had to at least try.

"Let's take you back to your brother," she said.


	5. Twelve to Fifteen

We're finally back to shorter and more light-hearted stories. I'm posting just four this time, but the rest of the chapters will have five each.

Sorry about how useless #012 is. I wrote several different one-shots for this prompt, but I had to scrap all of them because they didn't work. I have no personal experience with alcohol and no amount of research I did made me feel I could convincingly write about someone being drunk. The one here really is the best out of the ones I tried.

**Note:** #015 deals with complete mind control. There's no sex, but it can still be triggery, so skip it if it's not your cup of tea.

**ME MONTY, YOU AMY**

**012****-015**

**012: I'm drunk**

Monkey Fist didn't usually drink much, at least unless he was certain he was alone and would go undisturbed for as long as he wanted. Being a ninja, he cherished his body and sharp mind more than anything else. They were his tools of trade, and he had to be able to face any opponent at any time if he wished to remain on his destined path. One drink too much could make him just a little slower or clumsier, and that could very well be his death sentence.

On the other hand, there were things that even the bravest of men couldn't face without the support of some mind-numbing substance. One such monstrosity had been chasing him the whole day, popping up at just the wrong moments and forcing him to flee. He had lost two contracts with crime bosses he had hoped to assist for some much-needed cash – his recent encounter with Possible and the pretender had resulted in the utter destruction of his jungle lair and massive veterinary bills for his monkeys.

He was currently in his room in the hotel where the villain convention was being organized. He was nursing a glass that was half full (or half empty, as he preferred to think in his current state of mind) with some alcohol whose brand had escaped him. He didn't care what it was as long as it was strong and would get his mind off Amy for a moment. He needed and more than deserved a moment for himself.

Thankfully, he was alone. Everyone else was gathered in the convention hall where they had just started handing out prizes for the evillest laugh, the best underwater lair and other such nonsense. Monkey Fist was certain that Amy was there as well, not because she hoped to win anything but because she loved cheering and congratulating the others.

He took a careful sip of his drink. He wanted to make it last and enjoy the slow, warm feeling that was spreading all over him. Monkey Fist had always been of the opinion that drinking too much or too fast ruined the experience and was more becoming of lower class scum than a man of his status. This way he could keep note of his state and stop before he drank too much.

He simply couldn't understand why that woman kept chasing him. He had never made any promises to her. Amy had seemed like the perfect professional when they had worked together. She had never tried to touch him inappropriately, except for those times when they had made a break-through and she had wrapped her arms around him so that they had both fallen on the floor. He hadn't minded because he had been equally excited, but that was just two like-minded people being happy about their success, right? There was nothing more to that.

"I _certainly_ never made any promises to her," he muttered to the glass in his hand before taking another gulp. Despite his anger and frustration, he was starting to feel comfortably relaxed.

Just where had Amy got the idea that they were compatible in any way? They had such different goals and approaches. Perhaps the only thing they had in common was that they both thought genetic mutation was something admirable, but even that was an issue they couldn't entirely agree on. For Monkey Fist, genetic alterations were a tool that gave him new abilities and helped him move towards his destiny. Amy, on the other hand, didn't know how to hold back and wouldn't stop until she had spliced every gene in her subject. It had taken him over a week to convince her that he didn't want a tail.

"If it only were that easy to convince her I don't harbour feelings for her," he said, continuing to talk to the glass in his hand. It was empty now, so he reached for the bottle and filled the glass again. The idea of having to face her yet again to tell her the same truth over and over made him feel bitter, so he downed the contents of the glass in one go.

He didn't know how long he sat there, feeling angry and sorry for himself. He was in the middle of another refill when there was a sudden knock at his door. Monkey Fist almost dropped the bottle in sudden fright. It had to be her! Nobody else had any reason to come to his room. She didn't have the key to the door, but he knew that wouldn't hold her back for long. His only chance was to escape through the window.

Monkey Fist jumped to his feet, rushing for the window. Or rather, he tried to. When he rose from the chair, the world suddenly took a spin, like the floor was moving. He grabbed the table for support, managing to knock it down. The bottle fell and rolled away, but it was almost empty so not much was lost.

Had he really drunk that much? Monkey Fist swore under his breath. He couldn't remember, and his head felt all muddy and heavy. It was just like Amy to infiltrate his thoughts and destroy his sense of self-control. How was it even possible for one person to make his life so miserable?

* * *

"Honey bunny, what's that noise? Are you okay?" Amy asked as she stopped knocking on the door. What was going on inside? Was he fighting with someone? Maybe he needed her help. "Don't worry! I'm coming in!"

She told her newest friend, a gorilla/poodle creature called Damien, to open the door for her. Monty had forgotten to give her a spare key to his room, but that was probably because he was so busy. Every time she had seen him in the villain convention this weekend, he had always been running somewhere.

When she entered, she found Monkey Fist lying on the floor, but there was no sign of his assailant.

"Oh, honey bunny!" Amy exclaimed and rushed to his side. She was about to pull him into her arms, but then she suddenly jerked away when she noticed the smell on him.

"Have you been drinking?" she asked. Her eyes moved between the bottle, fallen furniture and the man currently lying between them. What was going on? She knew it wasn't like her Monty to get into a sorry state like this. He was too proud and always in control.

"That's none of your -" Monkey Fist started, but he was immediately cut off by her.

"That's not good at all! Drinking isn't nice; it makes you violent and grumpy," Amy said with a stern shake of her head. She didn't really have anything against alcohol, but she didn't like it how it often brought out the worst in people when they had too much of it. Just looking at her cuddle monkey was enough proof of that; normally he would have never let her see him vulnerable like this.

"You must be really worried about something. Why didn't you come to me? Talking is always the best option. Drinking doesn't solve problems. It only creates more," Amy continued. It was clear to her that something was very wrong, and it hurt her that Monty had rather turned to the bottle than her. Surely the bond between them had to be stronger than that.

"I'm not drunk," he muttered. She thought he was probably feeling embarrassed and guilty because she had caught him at a moment of weakness. She had to smile at that. Her poor honey bunny, always so proud and stubborn.

"Nonsense, honey bunny. You have to take better care of yourself. This just won't do," Amy said sternly.

"There is nothing wrong with occa- sional drinking," Monkey Fist argued. He looked foreign to Amy. He spoke slowly, and there was a dull look in his eyes. He wasn't even trying to edge away from her when she came close. Normally Amy would have delighted in being able to hold him, but she knew this wasn't really him.

Amy huffed. "No, but you shouldn't try to drink your problems away," she said.

"What problems? I… don't have any-" Monkey Fist protested, but Amy cut him off.

"You've been avoiding me the whole weekend. I know it's hard for you men to talk about your feelings, but I don't want you to turn to alcohol for comfort. You can talk to me, honey bunny," Amy said.

Monkey Fist groaned at that and buried his face in his hands, looking like a man caught in utter despair.

"It's hopeless!" he cried. "You'll never get it!"

"Oh, honey bunny! You poor thing! It must be harder for you than I thought!" Amy said, all annoyance on her face transforming into loving pity. She frowned at the unhappy man before her, not knowing what to do. She hadn't realised that talking about his feelings was so hard for him. No wonder he had finally succumbed to alcohol for support.

"Leave me alone," Monkey Fist said. His tone sounded so pitiful to Amy that she decided to do just that, this one time. She didn't want to wound him any more by continuing to witness his misery.

"Alright, honey bunny, but you have to promise that you're going to get some sleep and that we'll talk tomorrow. I can't let you go on like this when I know I'm the source of your worries," she said.

Monkey Fist made a sound that somehow managed to sound pained, angry and frustrated at the same time. Amy forced him to get up and go to bed, which he did as soon as she threatened to tuck him in herself if he didn't obey. The panic that showed on his face at that moment hurt her a little – did Monty perhaps think she'd use him when he was like this?

"Come on, Damien," she said softly to the gordle as she slipped out of the room. A feeling of unease rested upon her. She had had no idea that Monty was going through such a hard time. Somehow she'd have to make him see that there was no danger in opening up to her and admitting his feelings. The fact that he had sought relief from alcohol of all things proved just how much he needed her. No matter what, she'd be there for him.

**013: I want to hurt you**

DNAmy rubbed her eyes tiredly. It was weeks since she had last had a good night's sleep, and the nights spent lying awake were starting to take their toll on her. She knew she had become snappy. She no longer felt like greeting her Monty with a kiss every morning.

It's all his fault anyway, she thought bitterly as she glanced at her lover's sleeping form.

She knew Monkey Fist probably had no idea what he was doing to her. He was so egoistical and self-centred that he never stopped to think about the consequences of his actions and how much he could hurt others. Amy had known that when she had got into this relationship, but she had thought that her love could endure anything.

She wasn't so sure anymore. She could have never prepared herself for this.

She had tried to talk about it, but it was like he was deaf to her accusations. There was absolutely nothing wrong with him, he always said. All the problems were only in her head. He was perfect. Amy didn't let it show, but she was certain that their relationship would not last if she couldn't make him admit his flaws and start treating her better.

She frowned in utter annoyance and gave Monkey Fist a gentle poke. No reaction, as usual. The big meanie probably delighted in ignoring her whenever she had anything negative to say. Sometimes, when the night was at its darkest and she had again spent hours thinking about his complete lack of understanding for her feelings, she felt like taking her revenge. How she would have loved seeing him tortured by those same doubts and worries she was!

Feeling the countless sleepless hours weighing on her back, she decided that enough was enough. She couldn't take this anymore.

"Stop snoring!" she yelled and hurled a pillow at his face.

**014: I am awake and you're breathing**

It had been Lord Montgomery Fiske's full intention to keep this a perfectly professional relationship. He wasn't even attracted to the woman. Her saccharine personality made him want to choke on his tea and crumpets, and he could barely stand her company for longer than five minutes without getting a blazing headache.

Yet he was now lying next to her in her bed. She was sleeping peacefully, snoring a little and snuggling up against his arm, like she couldn't be without cutesy cuddling even in her sleep. The blanket had half fallen off her, offering him unlimited view of her round curves.

He wasn't sure how it had got to this point. He had taken her out to dinner to discuss the mutation procedure he wanted done on his hands and feet. They had had a great time; she had been very enthusiastic about the project and he had been glad that he had found someone who understood his desires that well. They hadn't drunk much, or at least he thought so. He didn't like clouding his judgement and making his body clumsy, so he was always careful about that.

He recalled he had offered to walk her to her hotel. Then she had asked him inside because she wanted to show him some papers and figures that she thought were relevant to their project. She had said that she was glad for this opportunity as she hadn't had much work after being fired from the university. He had said that she was the first person who took his project seriously at all.

He supposed that they had both been enchanted with the feeling of kinship. From what he had gathered, she had always been regarded a bit odd, and her colleagues had ridiculed her for her dedication to her work and collectibles. He had enough sense in his head to realise that the changes he wanted to make his body go through were abnormal in the eyes of most people, and he hadn't expected that he would meet someone who was just as excited about his plans as he was.

Then she had had her hand on his thigh, and she had turned to look up at him with hopeful and inviting eyes. He had hesitated for a moment, knowing that it would only lead to trouble, but he had given in when he had seen the desire on her face. It was too long since anyone had wanted him like that; they were usually after his money or thought they'd get into high society through him. It was actually very flattering that someone wanted just _him._

He didn't regret what had happened; he had enjoyed himself. He was certain that after this she would be even more dedicated to helping him. However, he knew things like this couldn't last. He had no time for a relationship at this stage of his plans, and he didn't like the idea of chaining himself to someone or something.

Sooner or later, she would come asking for more, having interpreted this night the wrong way. He had no idea what he could say to her. He didn't even know what to say to Bates in the morning. The valet was sure to wonder – but never ask – why his master had not returned home for the night.

He glanced over to his side and saw the happy smile that was playing on her freckled face. He supposed the hopes of her thinking of it as a one-night stand weren't very high. Somehow he'd have to break the news to her, but not yet. Not until she was done with the mutation procedure.

He tensed when she suddenly moved her arm and let it rest on his chest. For a moment he considered pushing it aside, but he didn't want to trouble her and wake her up. Talking would be a bit too awkward right now.

Her skin against his started to feel normal after a while, and he allowed himself to relax again. He rarely let people get this close to him. All his past relations, even back when his eyes had not yet been opened to his destiny, had been careful and hasty. He enjoyed the act as much as any man would, but the emotional closeness made him feel uncomfortable. Most people were fools, and he didn't want to get too attached to them. It would only hinder him on his quest for greatness.

I should tell her that I'm only using her to get what I want, he thought. It would hurt her, but it would solve the problem neatly. They would never have to meet each other again, and he could direct all his efforts on his plans. He was not above doing something like that. He knew he'd do much, much worse in the future if everything went like he was envisioning.

He turned to look at her smile in her sleep and tried to imagine the hurt that would twist her face when he told her the truth. Oddly enough, he didn't feel very bothered by that, even after she had given everything to him and let him this close.

She stirred a little and looked up at him with half-open eyes.

"Monty?" she asked sleepily.

He smiled reassuringly at her.

"Just go back to sleep, Amy," he murmured. "I'll be here."

**015: This is my desperation in action**

Monkey Fist growled under his breath as he struggled against the straps that were holding him still. Every part of his body was tied down; he couldn't move his feet, hands or even lift his head. Being immobilised and unable to defend himself filled him with a sense of helplessness that was threatening to turn into panic, so his only option was to grow angry instead.

"Is anyone in here? Let me go at once!" he yelled to the empty room. It seemed to be a laboratory of some sorts. The walls looked sterile in their white and grey colours, and every piece of furniture had such a lack of personality that everything seemed surreal. Monkey Fist was used to darker colours and bizarre decorations and style, so the room he was trapped in made him just as uncomfortable as hospital rooms always had.

Someone had captured him. His memories of the battle were a little foggy, but he could remember being suddenly attacked by several disguised men. He and his monkeys had fought back, but then someone had hit from behind and… Here he was. Who could have done this to him? Monkey Fist knew he had quite many enemies, but this type of attack was uncharacteristic for most of them. Possible and Stoppable certainly wouldn't charge at him like that. Nor would they tie him down in some mysterious room that looked like it came straight from terrible science fiction.

He continued struggling for several moments longer, but then he had to give up and accept that he wasn't going anywhere. All he could do was wait for his captor. Since Monkey Fist was not a particularly patient man, this only increased his anger and frustration.

After some time, a door on the opposite wall finally opened. It was the exact same colour as the walls, so Monkey Fist only now realised its existence.

"You! I should have known!" he barked when DNAmy stepped through.

"Hush, don't yell, honey bunny. I mean you no harm," she said.

"Then how come you've kidnapped me yet again? How many times do I have to tell you that it will accomplish nothing?" he asked. He wasn't even aware of it, but he started his futile struggle again, desperately trying to free himself so that he could get away from that unstable woman.

"I only want to talk. You're always running away and I can't tell you how I really feel," Amy said.

"I don't care! I know what you want, and you will never get it! I'm not interested!" Monkey Fist yelled. How was it even possible that Amy kept coming back to bug him when he had made it perfectly clear what his feeling for her were? Why could she not act like a reasonable human being and just accept that she couldn't have him?

"Please, listen. I know I've been a little annoying and you probably feel like I've driven you to a corner, but that's just because I really love you. You're the most important person in my life, and I just want you to be happy," Amy said, coming to stand by his side and placing her hand on his. An involuntary shudder went through him.

"If you cared about me at all, you'd leave me alone," he said.

"Monty-"

"No, really! I don't love you! I never have and never will! Accept that and find someone who is stupid enough to like you!"

Amy grabbed his hand so tightly that it hurt. "But I can't! I love you! Nobody else is like you!" she wailed.

Monkey Fist couldn't understand what she saw in him in the first place. They had barely anything in common and were completely opposite personalities. What she loved, he hated and vice versa. He would rather go through terrible physical torture than spend a single moment in her company as the victim of her loving attentions. Even if he had liked her, he wouldn't have given in. He was destined for great things; he didn't have the time for something as insignificant as romance.

"Can't you please give me a chance? I promise I'll do everything you want," Amy pleaded.

"No. Now let me go!" Monkey Fist snapped.

"Please!"

"No!"

Amy let go of his hand and took a step back. She looked to be on the verge of tears but somehow she managed to hold back her sobs. She took off her glasses and wiped her eyes with her sleeve, letting out a disappointed sniffle. Monkey Fist resisted the urge to roll his eyes at her dramatics.

When Amy put her glasses back on, there was a new, cold look in her eyes.

"I didn't want to do this, but you're giving me no other options," she said.

"What do you mean?" Monkey Fist asked.

Amy pulled out something small and red from her pocket. It looked like microchip to Monkey Fist, but he was no expert on such things.

"I got this from Drakken. He used them in the past and had one to spare," Amy said.

"What is it?" Monkey Fist asked, eying the chip warily.

"A mind control chip. If you can't love me on your own, I'll have to make you," Amy explained.

Wait, what?

Monkey Fist could only stare in horror as she approached him with the chip in her hand. He felt the panic come back and this time he didn't even try to hold it down; he fought against the straps with all his might and desperately tried to break free, even as he knew that he never would. She couldn't do this to him! She was supposed to be pathetically nice and friendly to everyone!

"Keep that thing away from me!" he snapped.

"I'm really sorry, honey bunny. I love you," she said and pressed the chip on his forehead.

There was a brief flash of pain inside his head and his body went entirely limb. Monkey Fist tried to, but he couldn't will a single muscle to move. He could still feel, hear and see everything, but he had no control over anything. He was trapped within his own mind.

That woman! I will kill her! When I get free from these bindings, she will learn what pain is, he swore to himself. Somehow he'd just have to overcome the chip. And once he was done with Amy, he would go to Drakken and show the scientist just what he thought of these types of plots.

"Monty? Monty, look at me," Amy said.

He turned his head.

Amy smiled at him and took his face between her hands. Monkey Fist felt disgusted beyond belief, but his body wouldn't shudder or retch. If he only could have turned his head or snarled at her to take her hands off him, but no. Even when she loosened the straps around him, he could only lie there and wait for her commands.

"Honey bunny, come with me," she said.

He got up and followed her out of the room. He saw that they were in one of her hideouts and that the interiors of these rooms and the one they had just left were like night and day. Here the walls were a warm shade of brown. Pictures of various bizarre animals Amy had created were hanging on the walls and the air smelled faintly of cinnamon biscuits.

Amy took his arm and leaned against his shoulder. She released a happy sigh and led him to what looked like a living room. There was a large sofa with plush pink pillows, and she told him to go and sit on it. It suddenly occurred to him that she could make him do anything, absolutely anything, when he was in this state. Horror images of what she might want from him were flashing through his head, and it didn't help at all that she sat down by his side and snuggled up close to him.

"Honey, put your arm over my shoulders," she said, and he did. He was afraid that she would ask for something more, but she seemed content with only this mild form of affection. He did his best to move his arm or find the strength to tell her to stop this at once, but it was like he was entirely paralyzed. It was just as frustrating as trying to move a body part that didn't exist.

This was maddening! He had no way to do anything with the rage that was bubbling inside him. He would have never thought that anything could be this terrible.

Amy giggled as she traced figures on his chest with her finger. "Isn't this nice, cuddle monkey? Just the two of us," she said.

No. He hated it. Please let it end.

"From now on, I want you to treat me like I were your girlfriend. You need to cuddle with me, bring me flowers and kiss me every morning. I want you to tell me that you love me," she instructed. Though he felt sick just thinking about it, Monkey Fist knew that he would do all of that and more if she just asked. Every command she gave was being registered into the chip that controlled him.

"And then we can go to Cuddle Buddy conventions together! And watch TV together! I'll bake us some cookies. We'll have so much fun!" she went on, blabbering about the wonderful plans she had for them. Every word that left her lips made him more and more desperate; there had to be a way out of this situation. She couldn't rob him of his life like this! He had a destiny to fulfil!

"Monty, do you love me?" she asked.

Monkey Fist gathered all of his willpower to say no. Couldn't he be allowed even that one word?

"Yes," he heard his voice say.

"I love you, too," Amy said and sighed happily.

He wished more than anything that he could have strangled her.


	6. Sixteen to Twenty

It's March 20, which means two things. Firstly, it's again Monkey Fist Appreciation Day. Even though there is less fanwork than last year, let's all join together to celebrate our favourite monkey man! Secondly, it means that it's been a full year since I started this story. I never meant this fic to go this long unfinished, and I truly apologize for how long it has taken me to write this.

The fact is that I've pretty much lost interested in KP. This will probably be my last Kim Possible fic for the unknown future, but I promise I'll finish it. Most of this was actually finished in time for _last year's_ Monkey First Appreciation Day. In fact, I have finished all thirty prompts except 022 and 024, but I'm so stubborn that I can't bring myself to post the finished one-shots if I can't do so in the correct order.

018 takes place after the episode _Big Brother._

020 takes place during _So the Drama._

Anyway, enjoy these while I try to finish the missing two prompts.

**ME MONTY, YOU AMY**

**016-020**

**016: I want to break you**

"Yoo-hoo! Honey bunny!"

Amy waved her hand at the man who froze in terror for a split second before sprinting away faster than should have been humanly possible. She saw the panic in his eyes, but it didn't register with her as such, or at least she would have never admitted that to herself.

"Wait up, sugar bum! I need to talk to you!" she yelled after him, but it was too late. She had revealed her presence too soon yet again and given him the chance to flee.

Amy sighed as she placed her hands on her hips. It was no use running after him. He took his game of playing hard to get so seriously that he always forgot that he was supposed to let her follow him, not really escape.

With nothing better to do, she invited herself over to the table where Shego was sitting and took the place that Monkey Fist had had just a moment ago.

"He and I were in the middle of a decent conversation, you know," Shego pointed out.

"Sorry," Amy said with a sheepish giggle. "I didn't mean to. I think he's so into this little game that he forgets everything else when he sees me. I should tell him to try to have a life that doesn't revolve around me."

"I wish I had something clever to say to that, but I don't think you'd get it," Shego said.

"What do you mean?" Amy asked. Shego was very nice, but she was sometimes a bit hard to understand. She was so… prickly and edgy, like she was always in a bad mood. In that sense she reminded her of Monty, so she was certain that deep inside Shego was a good person as well.

"Nothing," Shego replied. She leaned her chin against her palm and looked to her side. Amy thought she looked bored. She felt a little guilty about ruining her talk with Monty. Drakken was currently attending a lecture about how the latest developments of nanotechnology could be used in villainy, so maybe Shego was feeling lonely. And if someone was lonely, the only cure to that was a good friend.

"What were you and Monty talking about?" she asked.

"They say some Chinese martial arts master is going to be here tomorrow to show off some secret weapons of his organization. We thought it might be worth a look," Shego replied.

"Oh, I knew nothing about that. Thanks for telling me. Maybe I'll go and meet Monty there," Amy said.

Shego chuckled. "Sounds like I ruined Monkey Fist's fun," she said.

"Please don't tell him that I'm going there, too. I want to surprise him," Amy said with a giggle.

"Amy…" Shego said, but she frowned and never finished whatever was on her mind. For a moment she pondered something with a thoughtful look in her eyes before she finally continued, "Why won't you just give up?"

"What do you mean?" Amy asked.

"I mean Monkey Fist. Why do you keep following him? I'm not one to usually hand out dating advice – though every other loser in this business certainly needs it – but it looks pretty obvious to me that Monkey Fist isn't that interested in becoming your Prince Charming," Shego said.

It took Amy some time to realise what Shego was getting at with her words. For a moment she just stared at her with a puzzled expression on her face, but then realisation hit her.

"Oh, you must think Monty doesn't love me," she said.

"Something like that, yeah," Shego said.

Amy just smiled and shook her head. For most of her life, people had looked at her like she had a second head and laughed at all of her ideas. She was so used to it that she couldn't even feel bothered by Shego's misguided thoughts.

"That's what he wants everyone to believe," she said. She paused for a moment, frowning critically. "And maybe he thinks that's what he feels. But it doesn't matter. I know that deep down he loves me more than anything else in the world. I just have to reach through his shell and get those cuddly feelings out of him!"

"His shell must be made of borazon if you haven't cracked it yet. You've been after him… what, two years?" Shego remarked.

"I think I've been making great progress," Amy said. Whenever she was managed to keep an eye on Monty without him noticing, he was always glancing over his shoulder and being wary of every corner. It was clear that he was expecting her to appear, which just proved that she was getting through to him.

"It shouldn't take long now," she continued. "I just have to be patient and keep showering him with my love."

"Uh-huh," Shego said.

Amy just smiled, knowing that she couldn't convince Shego. She actually felt sorry for the green-skinned woman. She obviously didn't know anything about true love. It was too bad. She and Motor Ed would be a great match.

"It was nice talking to you, but I'm afraid I need to get going. I'm baking cookies today in case Monty decides to visit me," she said.

Shego didn't bother to say anything else, so Amy waved at her and excused herself. She was feeling a little better now even though Monty had run away again. Talking with Shego had reminded her that there were such cynical people in the world but that she shouldn't let them bring her down. She knew how she felt about Monty and how she would make him feel about her.

He would soon embrace his feelings for her, no matter how hard he kept resisting. She just had to be a little more patient and keep trying harder.

**017: Wish I didn't love you**

Amy straightened her back and rubbed her eyes for a moment when the writing on the page she was reading started to turn into a confusing mess before her. She blinked a couple of times and turned to look at the book again. The text made sense now, but she could feel a headache throbbing in the back of her skull.

With a sigh, she leaned back in her chair and closed the book. One glance at the Pandaroo clock on the wall told her that it was four in the morning. She tried to tell herself that she hadn't even noticed the time, that she had been so captivated by her research that she had forgotten about everything else. However, that would have been a lie.

No matter how hard she tried to fill her life with the things she loved – like creating new Cuddle Buddies, chatting with those few collectors who still wanted to talk to her and going shopping with Adrena Lynn – somehow she always ended up finding time to think about that one thing that brought her more pain than anything ever before in her life.

She needed coffee. She knew she couldn't get any sleep even if she tried. It was better to stay up for another day and then try sleep. Maybe she'd be so tired that she'd finally get one full night of rest.

Amy stretched her aching back as she got on her feet and started walking towards the kitchen. She didn't turn on the lights, but she didn't even have to. She knew the way and what was standing in the darkness of her living room.

She stopped to stand there for a moment, feeling an uncomfortable tightness in her chest. She rarely went to her living room anymore so that she wouldn't have to look at the statue she had placed there. In the beginning, she had been happy that she has rescued her Monty from his eternal grave, and not a day had gone by without her cooing at his petrified form. He was finally hers, all hers.

Then, slowly, the sense of wonder had started to fade. There was no fun in talking sweet nothings to someone who never responded. Even his angry yells at her to shut up would have been better than silence. His stone form was uncomfortable to hug. The fear that was frozen on his face had started bothering her more and more until she could barely even look at him without cold chilling her heart.

She didn't know the details about what had happened to him, only that he wasn't coming back. The old man she had met in Japan had told her that. He had said that she should just leave him where he was and that digging him up would cause needless pain to everyone. Now Amy wished that she had listened.

"Why don't you just dump him somewhere or put him in a closet?" Adrena Lynn had asked one time over coffee.

"I can't," Amy had said.

"Well, why not? If he's bothering you, you should get rid of him."

Amy had spent a long time thinking about that, but every time she imagined taking him away, her despair only got worse. She still loved him in that possessive way of hers and couldn't imagine letting him go. Not now when she finally had him, even if it wasn't the way she had wanted.

I wish I could forget, she thought. It was over a year since she had dug him up and brought him to her home. Now that she had him, she was lonelier than ever before. She yearned for the closeness of a relationship and having someone hold her when she was feeling down. As long as she kept Monty in her living room, she could never have that – and yet she was unable to let go.

Amy bit her lip. She wanted to see Monty's face so bad, but at the same time she was afraid of the horrified expression on his face and the way he kept reaching out for help that would never come.

Her hand lingered on the light switch for a while, but then she drew it back and continued on her way to the kitchen.

**018: I pity you**

It was silent safe for the laboured breathing of the injured man on the bed. Every now and then he would let out a muffled moan or mutter something in his sleep, but he grew very quiet as consciousness slowly returned to him. The pain probably kept his mind busy. Besides, it wasn't like he had anyone to talk to. The monkey ninjas were awake and guarding their master protectively, but they weren't exactly good for a conversation.

DNAmy peered into the dim room. She didn't dare go inside. She hadn't seen Monty in quite some time, not after he had escaped from her after the incident of kidnapping Sensei.

"Is he still asleep?" came a voice behind her.

"No, I think he just woke up. He's not mumbling about revenge anymore," Amy replied.

Killigan came to take look inside as well. "I wonder what happened," he said.

Amy was curious about that as well. The previous day she had got a mysterious phone call from Monty's cell phone. She had only been able to hear the monkeys on the other side of the line. She had quickly grown worried and contacted Killigan. He had been a good friend to her ever since Monty had last abandoned her, which always made her feel warm and grateful inside. It was great to know that there was someone who cared.

They had tracked down the call and hurried to see what was going on. Killigan had grumbled about wasting time and effort for one stupid monkey man, but he had come along when Amy had asked really nicely. They had arrived at a desolate location surrounded by mountains, but it had looked like there was nobody there.

Amy had been the one to notice the ancient shrine, but Killigan had told her not to go inside. There was no telling what kind of dangerous places that lunatic was dealing with. She had insisted that Monty obviously needed their help and had been about to march into the shrine, but it was then that Killigan had noticed one of the monkey ninjas.

The animal had led them to a little hole that looked like it barely had room for one person. Several monkey ninjas had been guarding the entrance and it had taken quite a lot of persuasion from Amy to make them move – she also had to tell Killigan that no, they couldn't scare them off with exploding golf balls because it would hurt the poor things.

Once the monkeys had finally let them pass, they had been able to take a look inside the hole. They had both already guessed what they would find there, but it had still been a shock to Amy to see her darling in that condition – all battered and bruised, breathing heavily in troubled sleep.

Since neither of them could communicate with the monkeys, they still didn't know what exactly had happened. Amy was certain that some meanie had attacked Monty and done that to him. He was badly injured, so they hadn't dared move him too much. Thankfully Killigan had a golfer friend who lived in the next city and was willing to provide them with an apartment.

"I bet he got himself hurt looking for some treasure at that place," Killigan muttered. "He should know that those temples are always filled with traps."

"He knows that. I'm sure someone did this to him," Amy argued. "Poor thing."

Killigan glanced at her grumpily. "It was his own fault," he said.

"You don't know that!" Amy couldn't understand why Killigan was being so hostile and reluctant to help Monty. Sure, they weren't exactly friends, but she didn't think they were enemies either. It was always nice to help.

"So, what are ye going to do now?" Killigan asked.

Amy had to admit that she didn't know. Monty was clearly in pain despite the painkillers she had given him, but they couldn't go to a doctor. From what Killigan's friend could tell, the police was currently looking for Monty for something he had done at the shrine. Amy knew very little about taking care of serious wounds, and Killigan was even worse.

"Maybe I'll just talk to him," she said.

"Ye sure about that? He doesn't look very happy to be here," Killigan said.

"He'll feel better when he sees me," Amy said. She noted that Killigan shot another annoyed glare at her. She felt like shaking her head. It was almost as if he was… jealous? With an amused smile on her face, she opened the door properly and stepped into the dark room.

"Monty!" she squealed, unable to hold back her enthusiasm. She had been so worried about him all this time. And look, he had got himself into trouble again. If he had just been with her, none of this would have ever happened.

She threw herself at him and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into a tight hug. Oh, how she had missed him. Sadly, he didn't respond to this with equal enthusiasm. Rather, he screamed at the top of his lungs and struggled to push her away from him.

"Maybe ye shouldn't hug him when he has broken ribs," Killigan suggested from the door.

"But I only want to make him feel better," Amy said, letting Monkey Fist fall back on the bed. He was gasping painfully, trying to calm his breathing because panting only made his injured chest and back hurt more. His skin was glistening with sweat and he glared at Amy with cold, murderous eyes.

"Get the hell away from me!" he snapped.

"Oh, don't be so grumpy," Amy said, trying not to show how much his words hurt her. He probably thought she was immune to his insults because she loved him so much, but that wasn't true. She just ignored that sometimes because she was sure he didn't mean any of those things.

She tried to reach out to take his hand, but he snapped at her to leave him alone. The monkey ninjas shifted a little and turned to glare at her, warning her that if she wasn't careful, she wouldn't like the results.

"Amy, maybe ye should come back," Killigan said from the door.

"What is he doing here?" Monkey Fist asked.

"Oh, it's not what you think, honey bunny! We're just friends," Amy hurried to explain.

"Leave me alone, both of you!" the simian man yelled. He tried to get into a sitting position, but sudden pain made him groan and fall back on the bed.

"You poor thing! Where does it hurt?" Amy asked.

Monkey Fist slapped her hands away.

"Don't touch me!"

"But--"

"Go away!"

Killigan grabbed Amy's shoulder and started pulling her towards the door. She didn't resist. Once they were outside, she shook her head with a worried frown on her face.

"That poor thing! I wish I could do something for him," she said.

"The best thing ye could do is probably dump him in the street. He doesn't want our help, the ungrateful bastard," Killigan muttered.

"Of course he does. He's just upset," Amy said. Monty was acting like a hurt animal, too frightened and in pain to think rationally. She had often seen that behaviour in beasts that she had created, but she had always been able to calm them down with soft words and caresses. It didn't seem to work on her cuddle monkey for some reason.

Killigan sighed. "I think it's about time ye realised something. He doesn't like ye," he said.

"What do you mean?" Amy asked.

"That he doesn't like ye! Look at him! He just… I mean, why do ye even bother with him?" The golfer released a frustrated groan and sighed again. He started walking away. "Forget it."

Amy felt torn between hurrying after Killigan and staying back to look over Monty. She stole a look inside his room. She couldn't see much, but she could hear him talk to the monkey ninjas in a low voice. Despite her intense worry for him, she couldn't help but purse her lips in annoyance. He was so stubborn! Why couldn't he just let her take care of him? He was hurt and unable to do it himself. He needed her!

And now he had upset Killigan. The golfer had put aside his latest evil scheme just to accompany her here, and now Monty wouldn't even thank him. It was so ungrateful of him. Amy decided to make it up to her friend later, but now she had more pressing matters in her hands.

Despite what Killigan had just told her, she pushed the door open and stepped back into Monty's room. He immediately turned his eyes to her, snarling as he realised that she wasn't going to leave him alone.

"What do you want?" he rasped.

"Shh, don't be so angry. I just want to make you feel better," Amy said.

"Then go away!" he snapped.

"But why? I only want to help," Amy insisted. She took a step closer, but the monkey ninjas let out shrill shrieks as a warning, making her freeze on her tracks. She felt betrayed; they had been so nice to her earlier.

"You're only making it worse! I don't need someone like you to --" Monkey Fist's angry rant was cut off when he shifted a little too much, wincing in pain as he no longer had the breath to keep yelling.

That stupid, arrogant and cute fool.

"But you can't make it alone," Amy pointed out.

"Yes, I can," Monkey Fist said more quietly this time. "And even if I can't, I certainly don't need you."

Amy tried to keep the hurt and frustration away from her face, but she couldn't quite do it. She was tired; she had worked so hard to save him and then remained by his side, afraid that he might be really badly hurt. This sort of bitter rejection was not what she had been expecting.

"Why do you have to be such a big meanie?" she asked. "Can't you see that I love you?"

Monkey Fist snorted. "You're doing quite marvellous job at hiding it under being obsessed and sickening," he said.

"Why, you --"

"Furthermore, I don't need or want your love. I don't need anybody's love. All that I want is power," Monkey Fist continued.

"Everybody needs love!" Amy objected, for the moment ignoring what he was really saying. Love made life worth living. There was nothing as wonderful as knowing that there was someone who cared for you and wanted to be with you. Even if it wasn't romantic love, it was so fulfilling that Amy couldn't imagine how cold and lonely someone who didn't know what it felt like was.

"I don't! Mystical Monkey Power is all that I will ever need in my life." Despite the pain he was in, Monkey Fist's voice turned dreamy as he thought of the wonders that only he could understand. "There is nothing as amazing as channelling Mystical Monkey Power and feeling it rush through my veins. It makes me strong; it makes me more than human! It lets me crush everyone who is in my way!"

Maybe it was partly because of the dark room and her darling's angry words, but Amy suddenly felt like she didn't even know the person who was lying on the bed. His face was hidden in shadows, but she could still see the mad gleam in his eyes. It was not the determined sort of obsession that drove her; Monkey Fist looked like he was insane enough to kill someone with his bare hands. His ecstatic voice made her want to leave the room.

"But is that enough to make you happy?" she wondered, her words sounding pitiful even to her. He had to be so lonely if that was truly all that he wanted from his life.

"It's more than I will ever need," Monkey Fist said in a low, growling tone. "And once I have killed Stoppable, it will be all mine."

Amy didn't know what to say. Just a moment ago she would have felt tempted to bury Monkey Fist in hugs and kisses and show him that love wasn't so bad, but now she felt hesitant about it. He looked and sounded like a completely different person. She hadn't fallen in love with this man.

"I think you should sleep a little," she said gently. He didn't reply, so she returned to the door and exited the room. The light in the rest of the apartment felt almost blinding to her eyes.

She found Killigan in the small kitchen, eating a sandwich. He glanced at her when she arrived, but said nothing. Amy took a seat by his side and sighed.

"He must be so sad," she said.

Killigan froze in the middle of shoving the rest of his food into his mouth and turned to look at her.

"Err… What makes ye say that?" he asked.

"He said he doesn't love me," Amy said simply. "He has no idea how much he really means to me."

Killigan sat a moment in silence, scratching his beard and looking like he had no idea what he could possibly say in such a situation. If Amy hadn't been feeling so bad, she would have probably found his discomfort adorable.

"Monkey boy has let his obsession get the better of him. It's not yer fault," the golfer finally said.

"But I want to make him feel better!"

"Ye can't force him. If he doesn't want to be with ye, ye should just forget about it," Killigan said.

Amy just nodded. She wanted to cry, but somehow it felt like there was no real reason to, like she hadn't actually lost anything. She didn't even feel sorry for herself, only for Monkey Fist. He probably didn't realise how dark and lonely his life was when he wouldn't let anyone close to him. All he had were his minions and stupid dreams of world domination and glory.

* * *

Later that day, Amy tried to take Monkey Fist something to eat, but he yelled at her to go away as soon as she entered through the door. He was acting like a frightened animal, but Amy couldn't understand just what he was so afraid of. He was among friends, so he should have relaxed and trusted them a little more.

She waited until one of the monkey ninjas came outside.

"Take this to him, but don't tell him it's from me," she said and handed the monkey a bowl of soup.

The monkey nodded in understanding and returned to his master's room, closing the door behind him. It made Amy feel even more like an outsider, but at the same time she realised just how pitiful Monkey Fist was.

Even if he didn't love her, she still had so much in her life. She had friends and family; she had interests besides genetics and Cuddle Buddies, and she cared about things other than her work. She had no trouble functioning as a normal human being.

And… to be honest, she didn't really feel like hugging him or cuddling with him that much anymore. She still loved him and probably always would, but somehow seeing him like that made him look like a very different man. She couldn't even have a conversation with him anymore. She wanted the kind of man who would talk to her and like her and share the things that were important to her.

Someone like, well…

Amy frowned thoughtfully to herself, not wanting to think any further in her current state of mind.

Monkey Fist was pathetic in how little he had and how he didn't even realise it. Amy wondered if there would ever be a day when he would regret some of the choices he had made.

**019: This isn't about you at all**

She didn't usually come to pancake cafés, but it had been the first joint on her way that looked like it served coffee, so she had stepped inside and taken a table in the dimmest corner – which wasn't saying much since everything from the floor to the napkins was of sickening pastel colours that made her feel like vomiting.

That man!

She leaned back in her seat and brushed her black hair behind her ear, letting out something that sounded like a crossbreed between a sigh and a growl. When she had got into this relationship, she had known that he would drive her insane one day.

She glanced briefly at the door when the little bell tingled, indicating that another customer had arrived. It was almost closing time, so there weren't that many people around. She was just about to turn her eyes back to her coffee when she realised that she knew the person who had stepped inside.

I hope she doesn't notice me, she thought. Right now she was not in the mood for talk, especially not with her.

However, fates had decided that it was only fair if her sucky day got a little worse.

"Shego! What a surprise seeing you here!" DNAmy exclaimed when she noticed her. She didn't wait for an invitation but came to sit at her table right away.

"I know. This isn't my usual place," Shego replied.

She shot a look at the stone statue Amy was pulling behind her. What had once been Monkey Fist stood on a small cart so that his… girlfriend could take him wherever she wanted. It was such a humiliating sight that Shego was glad Monkey Fist wasn't aware of what was happening to him.

"Monty and I come here almost every day. The pancakes here are alright, but you should taste their strawberry jam! It's the best in the state!" Amy said.

Shego had already seen how Amy had fawned over the statue at Drakken's award ceremony. Back then she had thought that the woman had brought the former simian man along because it was fitting that all of the villains were there; it had been both to honour Drakken and to let Monkey Fist have his final appearance among his colleagues. She certainly hadn't expected Amy to keep dragging him along everywhere she went.

"What's the point of bringing him here? He can't even eat," she pointed out.

"I know," Amy said. She didn't seem to be bothered by Shego's bluntness. "I just like his company."

"He can't talk either," Shego said.

She took another look at the statue and felt like grimacing. Up close like this, he looked even more grotesque than she remembered. Monkey Fist had never been pleasing to the eye as far as she was concerned, but now that he was eternally frozen like that, he was the stuff nightmares were made of.

Amy ignored her comment and instead waved at the waiter so that she could order. The young man didn't acknowledge the statue in any way, so Shego guessed that everyone was already used to the oddity that was DNAmy.

"If I were you, I'd dump him in the closet and go find a real guy," she said. She knew she was hardly the role model when it came to choosing the right man – her anger at their stupid argument and his stubbornness flared up again – but at least she was dating someone who was alive. What Amy was doing couldn't be healthy.

Amy frowned, looking mildly offended. "I could never do that!" she objected. "Monty means so much to me. He is the most precious thing in my life, and I will never give up on him. I'll keep him with me wherever I go."

Shego supposed that it was almost beautiful in a very, very sad and pitiful way. "Huh. I guess you loved him more than anyone realised," she said. To be honest, she had always thought Amy's crush on the monkey man had bordered a little too much on the obsessed and stalkerish side.

Amy giggled. "I guess you could say that," she said.

"You guess?" Shego repeated doubtfully.

Amy waited until the waiter had come with her order and continued once he was gone. "It's true that I love him very much. He is special to me. Did you know that I was the one who did the mutation job on him? He was the first human I ever worked on, and it was a complete success," she said.

"Yeah, I know," Shego said. She could recall the many times Monkey Fist had cursed himself for not finding another geneticist, someone who wasn't so clingy.

"At first I thought that it was over then, but then I realised that I just couldn't let him go like that. I worked on him. He was my creation, the most amazing Cuddle Buddy I have ever brought to life! He had to be mine!" Amy continued, the sudden fanatical gleam in her eyes startling Shego.

"But of course, it turned out that he didn't like the idea of being added to my collection. The big meanie," Amy said with a pout. However, her sour expression quickly turned into a smile as she glanced up at Monkey Fist's stone form and patted his thigh.

"But now he's all mine. My collection is finally perfect again," she said.

Shego knew her open jaw and boggling face had to be telling exactly how disturbing she thought all of that was, but Amy was oblivious to the other woman's shock. She was humming happily to herself as she spread jam on her pancakes.

"So, you like him better now that he's a statue?" Shego asked.

Amy looked up from her food with a bright smile. "I think so. I mean, he would just try to run away again. I prefer him like this when he will always be mine," she said.

Shego turned to look at her coffee and realised that she hadn't taken a single sip since Amy had started talking. Sheesh, that woman was all kinds of crazy! Her own problems seemed very meagre and mundane all of a sudden.

She pushed her coffee away, knowing she didn't want to drink it anymore. She decided to return to the lair and take back what she had said about Drakken's science fiction DVD collection.

She patted Monkey Fist on the shoulder as she passed him.

"Too bad, monkey boy," she said.

**020: I hate you, you bitch**

At that moment Monkey Fist was certain that he would have strangled DNAmy to death if it hadn't been for the fact that he was currently running for his life. He yelped and leapt to the side, barely avoiding being smashed into a pulp by the mechanical monstrosity that was chasing him. As he glanced behind his shoulder, he saw how the creature lifted its arm and took aim.

This all Amy's fault, he thought as he made a desperate dash behind a boulder just in time to dodge the green fire that the robot shot at him. He felt his skin prickle and smelled the stench of his hair burning, but there was no time to stop and worry about such things. He had to keep moving and lure this thing away from the castle.

It was a good thing that they hadn't been awake when this had started. Otherwise they would already be dead, squashed or burnt to crisp in his bedroom just because Amy was a sentimental fool who couldn't say no to anything cute.

Part of his castle was in ruins. Monkey Fist felt indescribable hatred bubble inside him as he thought about his ancestral home and the damage that had been done to it. He hadn't had the time to stop and take a serious look at it yet, but at least the east wing had been nothing but rubble when he had last seen it.

"Whatever you are, you will pay for this dearly!" he yelled at the red mecha that was still on his trail. He would take that thing apart piece by piece and make sure every part of it down to the last screw rotted until there was nothing left. And then he would tear into Amy and skin her alive for what she had caused.

Where was she anyway? They had agreed that he would lead this monster to the moors that surrounded the castle so that it wouldn't be able to do any more damage while she brought together all of the monsters that had accompanied her. For once in his life Monkey Fist was glad that Amy thought something like a mix between an elephant and a vulture was worth creating.

There was just one problem with this plan. The moors offered him no protection against the shots and strikes of the evil machine that was on his trail. It was pure luck that he had been able to avoid any serious injuries so far, but he knew it wouldn't last. The robot was faster than him and unlike him, it didn't get out of breath or suffer from pain or panic.

He stumbled when his foot got caught into a little bush, and he was barely able to keep himself from falling to the ground. This little mistake cost him only about a second, but he still cursed under his breath as he took a leap to the left, only moments before a shot of green fire singed the spot where he had been.

Monkey Fist rolled to his side and jumped back on his feet, now facing the mechanical menace. Even now he could hardly believe that he wasn't dreaming. The robot was tall as a building, almost entirely red and resembled some sort of cartoony devil figure. Even more amazing was that all of that had come out of a little toy that Amy had insisted they should get.

"If I ever find out whose brilliant idea this is, I will show them what pain is," he muttered.

He briefly glanced to the direction where he had come from. He could just about see the silhouette of his castle against the night sky. It was a few hours before dawn. He supposed that it wasn't necessary to go any farther than this. Otherwise Amy might not be able to catch up with them fast enough.

If she was even coming. The thought hadn't really crossed his mind until now, but it was possible that she had decided to save her own hide and leave him to die in the hands of this monstrosity. The mere idea suddenly filled him with dread. His monkey ninjas were with her. If she wasn't coming, he was a dead man.

He had no time to ponder the possibility any further because he had to make another daring jump to avoid being stomped to a pulp. He leapt behind the machine and grabbed a hold of its leg, hoisting himself up on the thing's back. Hopefully it wouldn't be able to hit him there. Maybe he would even find a way to destroy it.

Technology wasn't Monkey Fist's forte by any means. Quite the contrary; he usually busied himself with things that were the exact opposite of any modern invention. He now cursed that he had never bothered to learn even the basics of robotics. It was a very stupid mistake considering that most of his fellow villains were always building deadly gadgets to take over the world.

He tried to find a way to lift any of the metal plates on the machine's back, but he couldn't get any leverage. Just as he was about to move on to the robot's neck, its head turned around, startling him. Monkey Fist almost fell off the mecha's back as he the glowing eyes and wide grimace suddenly appeared before him.

It can't be sentient, can it, he wondered. He didn't know if he should have jumped off or stayed there, but thankfully the decision was taken off his shoulders.

There was a mighty whoosh and a painful yank, and the next thing he knew was that he was no longer holding onto the robot's backside. The dark moors were suddenly below him, but he had to close his eyes from the powerful wind.

"Honey bunny, are you okay?" Amy's worried voice came from somewhere above him.

"What kind of stupid question is that?" Monkey Fist yelled at her. He couldn't decide if he should have felt grateful for that she had taken this moment to appear, or resented her even more because now he couldn't hate her with a good conscience.

The elepture's claws were uncomfortably tight around him, so he was glad when the genetic hybrid flew closer to the ground and dropped him. He tried to roll to soften his fall, but he still twisted his wrist. Wincing and moving it around to find out how bad it was, he got up on his feet.

The devil-lookalike was now a safe distance away from them but was already advancing at their direction. Apparently it wasn't programmed to give up.

"What are we going to do now?" Amy asked. Monkey Fist looked up to see that she and all of his monkey ninjas were riding the elepture. Earlier he had laughed at the bizarre bird with a trunk and massive ears, but now he was glad that it was there.

"Shouldn't we just run? There's enough room for you here," Amy continued.

"Run?" Monkey Fist repeated in rage. "That thing destroyed my home! I will not run!"

"But what can you do? I don't know any more about robots than you do!" Amy said.

"I don't care what I will have to do. I will destroy that thing! Monkey ninjas, come to me!" Monkey Fist yelled.

The monkeys hesitated for a moment, but one after another they climbed down the elepture's claws and leapt to the ground, leaving Amy and her creation alone in the air. Monkey Fist almost wished she would just go, which even he realised was stupid since only a moment ago he had been worried about her not coming back. He could barely stand to look at her now. It was all her fault that they were in this mess.

The robot had now almost reached them. Its thumping made the ground shake and the monkey ninjas glanced at their master in worry. Even through his hatred Monkey Fist knew that there was little he or his minions could do, but the idea of giving up and running didn't even enter his mind. He slit his eyes as he glared at the glowing face of their enemy and swore that somehow that thing would go down.

"Monkey ninjas, attack!" he ordered when the machine was close enough. The monkeys leapt into action, each one advancing at the robot from a different direction. This confused the robot somewhat as it was used to dealing with only one target, and for a while it didn't even know where it should have directed its attacks.

Monkey Fist used this opportunity to dart at the enemy and climb back on top of its back. As soon as he had a firm hold of the robot's neck, the machine got its act back together and aimed a shot of green fire at one of the monkey ninjas. The animal jumped aside just in time while the others took the moment to attack the robot's legs. Monkey Fist didn't stop to look at any of this – he knew his minions were competent enough to avoid most of the attacks – but he could hear their frustrated ooks when their attacks had no effect.

"Monty! That's completely stupid! Come back here right now!" Amy yelled at him as she rode past them on the elepture.

He didn't even bother gracing her with an answer. He was too busy running his fingers around the machine's neck and head, trying to find a cable or an opening that would somehow shut the thing off or, even better, make it explode. He ignored Amy's next yell about what an idiot he was. He also didn't spare a second thought to his monkeys who were getting frighteningly alarmed about something.

Something slammed against him and suddenly he was flying and went rolling on the ground. Feeling dizzy, he tried to get back on his feet to see what had happened, but he barely made it to his knees before he collapsed back down. He was desperately gasping for breath, but it felt like his lungs weren't properly working after the impact. He briefly wondered if he had any broken bones.

As he looked up at the devilish machine that was now looming above him, he realised that the thing had punched him off its back with just one strike. Somehow he had thought that a robot wouldn't be capable of doing that.

The robot lifted its arm and took aim. Monkey Fist knew he had to get up and run, but his body refused to obey him. He could only stare at the mechanic creature as his mind kept screaming at him for do something.

"Don't you dare hurt my cuddle monkey, you mean toy!"

Amy's yell made him look up just in time to see the elepture charge at the robot and almost knock it off balance. The animal let out an angry shriek and tried to claw at the machine's head, making horrible scratching noises and causing the robot to shoot its fire at the genetic hybrid without even aiming.

Monkey Fist slowly got on his feet, gasping as sudden pain surged through his chest. He hoped he didn't have broken ribs.

Amy rushed to his side and helped him stand, but he didn't really appreciate her help. He didn't need her.

"Are you alright?" she asked, frowning in worry.

Monkey Fist hadn't realised that she had jumped off the elepture, but now he realised it would have been suicidal to keep riding the animal when it was battling the robot. He turned to look at the ongoing fight, hoping to see that it was going in their favour. He noticed that his monkey ninjas were also standing back and watching the battle.

Amy saw the stern expression on his face. "Don't worry. My sweetie will show that meanie," she assured him.

Just then they could hear a pained shriek as the elepture was hit with a strike of fire and dropped from the sky, crashing against the ground with another yell. The creature tried to get up, but Monkey Fist could see that it wasn't going to fly any time soon when its wing was bent like that.

"You were saying?" he asked.

"My baby!" Amy looked undecided between running to her injured creation and staying by Monkey Fist's side. Finally she chose the latter, clutching his arm so hard that it was painful. "How could you do that?"

"Oh, please. Do you expect any less from a machine that has obviously been programmed to kill everything in sight?" Monkey Fist asked.

"But --" Amy started, but the look in Monkey Fist's eyes made her grow silent.

He wanted to snap something at her, but he suddenly had no idea what he could say. Approaching thumping told him that the robot was advancing at them; he didn't need to turn to look to see that grimace he had grown to hate on its face.

So this was it. Somehow he hadn't thought he would be killed on his backyard by a psychotic robot. His death was something he hadn't actually thought much about because he often fancied the idea of immortality, but he now knew for certain that this was not how he wanted to go. Not like this, and not this soon.

He wanted to yell at his monkey ninjas to get off their lazy behinds and do something, but he could never gather the will to give the command. They would just die as well, and he wanted at least some part of his legacy to live on.

He fixed his eyes on the approaching monstrosity and glared at it with all the hatred he could muster. Monkey Fist refused to close his eyes even when the machine pointed its left arm at them, ready to fire.

Bring it, then, you overgrown tin opener.

"Monty, I --" Amy started, but she was again cut off. This time it wasn't because of anything Monkey Fist did or said, though he would have gladly told her to shut up. Mushy goodbyes and declarations of love were not what he wanted to hear right before his death.

No, it was the devil of a robot that had silenced Amy. The thing was still pointing its arm at them, but something was wrong with it. Monkey Fist knew that metal couldn't possibly do it, but he felt that the machine was actually having spasms. They could only watch in awe as it steadily became smaller and smaller until it had returned to its original size. Even the grimace was replaced by the smile that had charmed Amy merely days ago.

Everything was almost silent for a long time. Only the slight wind was howling in the distance and ruffling their hair. Monkey Fist yanked his arm free of Amy's hold and slowly walked where the small toy was standing. He picked it up without a word.

To think that this, this… _thing_ had ruined half of his castle, injured one of Amy's pets and almost killed him and his minions! He felt his whole body shiver with uncontrollable rage as he stared at the goofy face of the toy. He didn't even realise how hard he was clutching it in his hand until he heard the faint crack of its head coming loose.

"Monty!" Amy exclaimed, apparently now cured from her shock.

"And you!" Monkey Fist snapped. She had been the one who had brought that thing to his home! She had done it even after he had told her how ridiculous and childish it was! And he had let her because something as small and silly as that had somehow made her happy. "Don't you dare think that --!"

He let out a pained yelp as he was engulfed by a massive bear hug from Amy. He fought to free himself of her hold, but she was surprisingly strong for her size and seemed to have no consideration for that he probably had broken ribs and was so damn angry at her. He was just about to yell at her that she had better start packing her bags and get the hell away from him and that getting together with her had been the worst mistake of his life, but it was then that he noticed that she was crying against his chest.

He bit his lip to keep the hurtful words inside him. It was so tempting to blame her – and he definitely wanted to blame someone – but it wouldn't be fair. She couldn't have known that this would happen. He counted to twenty in his head to calm down and entertained himself with thoughts of what he would do to the person who was behind this plot before he felt he could possibly say something that wouldn't make her cry even more.

"Mark my words, Amy. We're never eating at Bueno Nacho again," he said as he struggled to keep his voice steady.


	7. Twenty One to Twenty Five

022 is a sequel to 015.

025 takes place during the episode _Oh, No! Yono!_ and is based on ideas expressed by **SpicyWeasel** and **PengyChan.**

**ME MONTY, YOU AMY**

**021-025**

**021: You'll do**

Monkey Fist grimaced as he stared at the charred remains of what might have once been on its way to becoming a pancake on the frying pan. Who would have thought that making breakfast could be that difficult? Amy and Bates had always made it look so effortless and simple.

It would probably be a good idea to do something about the mess before his girlfriend woke up. He knew he couldn't get rid of the sickening stench that was making the kitchen smell like a gas chamber, but the least he could do was clean up.

That stupid woman, he thought as he was giving his all to scraping the pan. If it hadn't been her birthday, he wouldn't have got the idea of making her breakfast and wouldn't now be wasting his time like this. It was all her fault, as usual. And then there were those disloyal monkey ninjas who had fled to the castle grounds as soon as they had seen he was about to do some cooking. They should have stayed back to help him.

"Morning, honey bunny! What are you doing?"

Monkey Fist glanced at her over his shoulder, cursing that she had woken up a bit earlier than usual.

"I think there was a manufacturing flaw in this pan. It didn't work like it was supposed to," he growled.

Amy walked over and took a look. She whistled. "Wow, that takes some effort," she mused.

Monkey Fist only grunted. Was it his fault if Amy's kitchen utensils were so useless? He knew how to survive months in a jungle and make the most of what the nature provided, but this was somehow beyond him. He loathed admitting that he was not good at something.

"You know, you taught your monkeys how to do kung fu. Couldn't you teach them how to cook, too?" Amy asked.

Monkey Fist crossed his arms on his chest. "What a ridiculous notion. Who has ever heard of cooking monkey ninjas?" he asked.

"Then what do you suggest? I can't always be here to cook for you, and you can't live on bananas," Amy said.

"Maybe you should splice Chippy's DNA with that of Jamie Oliver," Monkey Fist muttered.

"It doesn't work like that," Amy said, letting out an amused giggle as she wrapped her arms around his waist. "Cooking is something that's learned, not an innate ability."

"Sometimes I wonder about that," Monkey Fist said.

He stole another look at his handiwork. "In any case, I think we'll have to settle with cereal for breakfast this time," he said. He wasn't particularly fond of that idea. He was used to eating whatever he could get his hands on when he was training in the wilderness with his monkeys, but when he was at home, he liked to have a real breakfast.

"Let's skip that," Amy suggested and nodded towards the destroyed frying pan and the remains of black goo that was still sticking to it. "I've lost my appetite."

Monkey Fist frowned at her in frustration. "Well, I'm sorry if Your Highness can't appreciate what I've -"

Amy silenced him with a kiss. "Stop worrying about the breakfast, cuddle monkey. Sure, it would have been lovely to have pancakes this morning." She paused to think about something for a while. A devious smirk took over her features and she gave him a little poke to the nose.

"But if I can't have that, I know what my next pick is going to be," she said.

On second thought, Monkey Fist mused, it was a very fortunate thing that the monkey ninjas had left the kitchen after all.

**022: I hate myself**

Amy's finger hovered above the button that would send the call. She was biting her lip and staring before her, not knowing if she really wanted to go through with it. She felt a little foolish. She had had such high hopes of her relationship with Monty, but things hadn't worked out like she had wanted.

Sure, it had been wonderful at first. He had done everything she asked of him without complaint. When she wanted to snuggle, all she had to do was give him a command. When she wanted him to watch soaps with her, he did. When she wanted him to accompany her to Cuddle Buddy conventions, she just had to say when. She had been beyond herself with joy at finally having the man she wanted.

But she had slowly started to realise how soulless it all felt. When they snuggled, his hands were stiff and without affection. He didn't respond when she made a comment about the latest plot point in her favourite TV series. He was only capable of yes and no answers and reciting what she wanted him to say. When they went to the conventions, he didn't smile before she told him to.

This isn't what I wanted, she thought. She wasn't really in a relationship with the man she loved. She was dating a puppet who only looked like him. There was none of the charm, the wit or the passion that had initially drawn her to him.

"This just won't do. There has to be a way to fix this," she said in sudden determination and pushed the button.

She had to wait a couple of seconds, but then Drakken's face appeared on the large screen before her. He blinked in surprise as he realised it was her.

"Uh, hello, Amy," he said.

"Hi there, cutie. Do you have a moment?" Amy asked.

"Sure, what is it?" Drakken replied.

"It's about that mind control chip you -"

"Ixnay on the you know what, Amy!" Drakken interrupted before she could even finish. His eyes were wide in alarm, and he glanced over his shoulder as if he were afraid that someone might hear what they were talking about.

Amy frowned. "What do you mean? Is there something wrong with the chip?" she asked. Really, what could be his problem? Evil scientists like him probably worked on mind control chips every day.

"What chip?" came a new voice from Drakken's end, and the blue scientist looked like he would have rather jumped into a pool acid than stayed there as Shego stepped into view.

"Nothing, Shego! I and Amy were just talking about her new chocolate chip cookie recipe! They go really well with cocoa moo, and you see -"

"Shut it," Shego growled with an intimidating frown. When she turned to look at Amy, her expression wasn't any less furious. "Did I just hear something about mind control chips?"

Amy ignored the way Drakken was feverishly waving his hands behind Shego's back and replied, "Yeah, I called Drakken about the chip he gave me. It's not working like I wanted it to."

Shego turned back to Drakken, her movements as if she were in a slow motion film. Amy couldn't see her expression, but it had to be hellish because it made Drakken jump back and fidget nervously with his hands.

"It's not what you think, Shego. I only gave her -" he started, but it looked like Shego wasn't in the mood to let him finish anything that day.

"You promised you wouldn't work on any mind control chips anymore! How long have you been creating them and lying to me?" she snarled.

"No, no! I haven't made a single one! The one I gave Amy was one of those that we stole that one time. I found one just lying around," Drakken hurried to explain.

"You mean one of those chips that you used on me?" Shego asked.

"Yes!" Drakken said at first, but when Shego's hands started glowing with plasma, he quickly changed his mind and said, "I mean, no!"

"You make me sick," Shego said with a shake of her head. "I thought we agreed that using mind control like that is too evil even for us. Why did you give the chip to Amy? You should have destroyed it!"

"She promised that she wouldn't use it on a human! She needed it to get some difficult creation of hers under control," Drakken said.

Amy winced a little. At that time, it hadn't felt like lying. By some definitions, Monty wasn't entirely human anymore, and he certainly was a difficult creation. Drakken had been a little hesitant about giving the chip to her at first, so twisting the truth a little had felt like the best thing to do. She hoped she hadn't got him into trouble with Shego.

"That's true. Please don't be angry with him," she said, drawing Shego's attention back to her.

"Was the chip really for a creation of yours?" the green woman asked in a doubtful tone.

"Of course," Amy said at once. She decided she had better forget about the reason she had called Drakken and not mention Monty at all. He had helped her, so he didn't deserve Shego yelling at him.

Shego relaxed visibly. "Well, that's good. Those things should never be used on humans," she said.

"Why is that?" Amy asked. Somehow, she didn't like Shego's tone of voice.

"Are you kidding?" Shego asked with a snort. "They're inhuman devices. They take away your free will and imprison your mind inside your body. You have no control over anything, even the most basic functions of your body. You can be forced into absolutely anything, and you can't do anything about it. I've been under the control of one of those chips before, and believe me, I don't wish that on even my worst enemy. It's worse than slavery."

"Um…" was all Amy could say to that.

"And you know what's the worst part? You're conscious the whole time. You know everything that's happening to you. You see it. You hear it. You feel it," Shego continued.

"Okay, okay, stop!" Amy blurted out. That was horrible! She hadn't thought it would be like that at all. Shego made it sound like torture. No, worse. She could feel how cold her hands had suddenly grown.

"I just want to make sure you know what you're dealing with. If I were you, I'd destroy the chip. There must be another way to control that monster of yours," Shego said.

"Yeah, alright," Amy said in a quiet voice. She thought she might cry, so she said a quick goodbye and thanks to Drakken and Shego before terminating the connection. Once the screen had gone black, she spent a long time just sitting there.

What had she done? Was Shego telling the truth? Had she really committed the worst possible violation against the man she loved? She hadn't wanted it to be like that. She had just wanted to give him the nudge towards admitting that he really had feelings for her. He obviously hadn't been about to take the step himself, so she had thought…

Amy got up on her feet, surprised by how much they were shaking. She walked to the living room where she had left Monty sitting on the sofa. There were cookies and tea on the table. She had planned for them to watch the new Cuddle Buddy OVA movie that she had just bought. She had just wanted to first ask Drakken why Monty wasn't being as affectionate as she wanted.

She knew that now. Even with the mind control chip, he didn't love her. She hadn't changed his feelings at all. She had just made him act against his will.

She felt like throwing up when she watched him on the sofa. His face was without emotion. He wasn't moving. He looked like a Cuddly Buddy, one of the normal ones that she kept in her collection. But if Shego was telling the truth, he was thinking. He probably hated her even more than before, and he had every right to.

Amy wanted to say that she was sorry, but she found she couldn't force her lips to move. Apologizing after she had done something like this would have been ridiculous. She knew he could never forgive her. He'd probably kill her as soon as she released him.

The only good thing she could think of was that she hadn't taken him to bed. At first she had wanted to, but the indifferent way he had been touching her hadn't excited her at all. She had settled with just snuggling, and now she was immensely grateful for that. She wouldn't know what to do with herself if she had forced him to –

Something about that thought rendered her unable to even look at Monty anymore. She didn't want to see him like that; she hated looking at the result of her actions. With a muffled cry, she turned on her heels and ran back to her laboratory. She collapsed against her DNA mixer and rested her head against it, closing her eyes and trying to even her breathing.

She felt tears prickling behind her eyelids. It only made everything worse. How could she have done this? Why had she thought it was a good idea? Had she been so desperate for love that she had needed to take it by force?

Amy knew this should have been the last thing on her mind. No matter how terrible she felt, it was nothing compared to Monty's torment. She should have already released him. Every second she spent here feeling sorry for herself was injustice towards him. But she just couldn't get up and go to him now. She didn't think she could take another look at him and see what she had done to him. It broke her heart and made her feel so guilty and _sick_ with herself.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled as she hugger her knees and buried her face against her arms. For now, it was the best she could do.

**023: You remind me of me**

"I'm Lord Monty Fiske. How do you do?"

Amy blinked as she took in the form of the man before her. She couldn't decide how she would have described him in just one word. He wasn't handsome in the traditional way and probably hadn't won any modelling competitions in his youth, but there was something dashing about him even now when he was nearing the middle point of his life. He was dressed in fine formal clothes that were like from a different world, and he held himself with pride and dignity. At the moment he was looking at her with greyish blue eyes and a polite smile that didn't quite reach them.

"How do you do? My name is Amy Hall," she introduced herself. They both of course knew each other already. They had been exchanging e-mails for the past month and had discussed many of the details of their business.

"It's great to finally meet you in person," she added. She wasn't quite sure how she should have addressed him. She wasn't shy by any means and she usually didn't think twice about what she said or did, but this was business. She really needed the money that Lord Fiske had promised her, and the scientist in her was dying to do these experiments.

"Likewise. I hope you didn't have to wait for me for too long," he said.

"Not at all, and the waiter was very helpful," Amy replied. She had been pleasantly surprised when he had suggested that they could meet at one of the finest restaurants in London. She didn't go out much and certainly not often enough with male company. If he was a fun person, maybe she could pretend that there was pleasure involved with the business.

"I wouldn't expect any less," he said as he took his seat.

He's a bit dry, Amy decided. Not really her type. She liked men who knew how to go wild and have fun. But maybe she was judging him too fast. After all, he was planning to go through with a highly experimental genetic procedure on his body. If that wasn't wild, she didn't know what was.

They had a table that was relatively far away from the others. He had probably reserved it on purpose so that they could talk in private. Before he had arrived, Amy had tried to eavesdrop on the other customers to find out how loud she could talk without being heard.

"Lord Fiske, why -"

"Just call me Monty, please."

Ooh, so he wasn't that formal after all. One point.

"Alright, Monty. Do you think this is the best place for us to talk about our business?" she asked.

"I don't see why not. I assure you, nobody will bother us here," he replied.

"Oh, okay. So, we've gone over the whole thing many times, but there's something you never told me. Why do you want to do this?" she asked. Though finding that first e-mail in her inbox had been a lovely surprise, she was immensely curious about why this man seemed so eager to go through mutation. He was the exact opposite of her usual clients. He already had fame and fortune so he couldn't be a super villain, but he also didn't seem the type to have animal fetishes. She didn't think he was one of those people who believed they were an animal born in a human body either.

"Does that matter?" Fiske asked.

"It does to me. This is my hobby, so I want to know what my help is going to be used for," Amy said. That wasn't exactly true. She only cared about that when she made a cute and cuddly pet for someone, not when she modified someone. As far as she was concerned, that was everyone's personal business. Now, however, she was immensely curious about why someone like Lord Fiske would ask for her services.

The man shifted on his seat and frowned at his wine glass like he couldn't decide if he could trust her or not. It was a silly notion since his life would soon be in her hands. It looked like he valued his plans more than his health.

He's mysterious, Amy decided. Like all those dark and dashing heroes from the romance novels she liked to read. Two points.

"Very well," he finally said. "I need the alterations so that I can better proceed with my plans."

"You mean your exploration work for the museum?" Amy asked.

Fiske snorted in disdain. "I no longer wish to associate with those fools. There are far better things in my future," he said, but Amy didn't miss the edgy tone of his voice. She wondered if he had willingly distanced himself from his colleagues or whether they had cast him out. It made her think back to the end of her career, how they had first laughed at her and then humiliated and abandoned her when her ideas had worked.

They had called her insane and deemed her experiments unethical. She didn't know what exactly was going on with Lord Fiske, but she was aware of his reputation and strong position among the most respected archaeologists in the world. That he would leave it and pursue his own interests hit very close to home.

She felt a stab of pity and understanding inside her as she looked at his face, trying to see if he was bothered by what he had left behind. He was just like her, rejected by those who should have been his friends. When he had contacted her, he had expressed his displeasure at how she had been kicked out of the university. He understood exactly what she had gone through. Three points.

"Oh, I understand. You're better off without those meanies!" she blurted out, hoping that her words would make him feel better and bring a smile to that serious face.

He blinked at her. "Er… Quite right," he said.

She reached over the table to take his hand in hers. She felt him stiffen under her touch, but he didn't pull away. Maybe he liked her. Four points.

"I mean it. If they don't understand your genius, then you shouldn't waste your time with them. That's how it was with me as well. I know how you're feeling," she said with an eager tone and eyes that promised that she'd accept everything he had to say. She had already forgotten about her curiosity regarding his reasons for wanting to go through mutation. It didn't matter.

"I'm glad we agree," Fiske said with an awkward glance to his side. "Now, I think we should further discuss the details of your work and our schedule. I am in quite some hurry, so I hope we don't have to prolong the procedure for too long."

"Everything is ready. All we need is the DNA samples and we can get started," Amy said. She watched how excitement crept into his eyes and felt a sense of warm satisfaction at that it were her words that had made the man happy.

"Really? I thought it would be more complex than that," he said.

"That's what my colleagues said, but I showed them!" Amy boasted.

"Then when can we get started?" Fiske asked.

"Anytime you want, honey," she said, flashing him a disarming smile.

He hesitated for a split second before responding to it with a smile of his own, but again Amy got the feeling that he was holding back. Oh, how she would have liked to see a real grin on that face! She wondered what she'd have to do to achieve it.

"Why did you contact me? There are other geneticists in the world who could have done this. But of course nobody is as good as me!" she said next.

"I was impressed by your previous achievements in this field, so I assumed you'd be the most logical choice. I also got the feeling that the two of us would get along wonderfully," Fiske replied.

"You can say that again," Amy remarked. "I think we understand each other perfectly."

"Yes, it is quite rare to meet someone who wouldn't laugh at my plans," Fiske admitted.

"Exactly! You have no idea how many times I've been mocked by meanies who don't understand the genius of my work! They have no passion, no vision and they don't know a thing about what it really means to collect Cuddle Buddies! I must have them all! Alive!" Amy ranted and leaned forward on her seat so that she was almost towering over the table.

Fiske, to his credit, only blinked and didn't let his smile waver more than just a little. "Uh… Yes, I understand your point. I have often felt similar frustration with some of my colleagues. And don't worry. I would never laugh at you," he said.

Okay, that did it. He was a real gentleman and liked her. One hundred gazillion points!

"You have no idea what that means to me, Monty! You're the first person I really feel understands me and accepts me for who I am," Amy confessed. She looked at him and wondered why she hadn't at once realised what a wonderful man he was. He was polite and charming, yes, but what she really appreciated in him was how he was just like her and didn't judge her. True, their specific interests were different, but deep down they were like their souls had been carved from the same matter. They were both masters of their art, underappreciated by their ignorant peers and forced into resorting to illegal means just so that they could really be themselves. Oh, how she wanted to give him a hug and reassure him that he would never have to be alone again.

"I'm glad we have reached an understanding. Some professional relationships can be quite tedious," Fiske said.

Amy giggled. Professional, huh? Oh, the silly man. He probably thought he shouldn't approach her on their first date – for it was clearly no longer just a business meal. Well, if he wanted to be a gentleman, Amy could play along for a while for his sake. Maybe it was for the best to remain on professional terms until their business was over, but after that there was nothing stopping them from deepening their relationship.

"I understand," she said, "and I can promise you that this one is going to be _very_ different."

**024: I want you to hate me**

If someone had told Monkey Fist that there would be a night that would see him breaking into Amy's house, he would have first stared at that person like he was mad and then erupted in maniacal monkey laughter. Such a thing simply wasn't possible. Monkey Fist knew that there were people who questioned his sanity, and he himself had to admit that some of his methods were sometimes a tad unconventional. But entering Amy's house voluntarily would require such absolute insanity that even he was incapable of it.

And yet there he was. It was the middle of the night, and he had just entered the house after cutting a hole into one of Amy's windows. It was her bedroom. Even in the dark, Monkey Fist could make out the shape of her bed. He shuddered. The only good thing was that she wasn't sleeping in it.

There was currently a massive Cuddle Buddy convention being held in Japan. Amy was sure to be there, which left him with free hands. Now he had the chance to do something that would horrify her so much she would never again bother him with her romantic attentions.

Monkey Fist considered himself only a mildly obsessed person, so at first he had had some trouble deciding what would be the best course of action. After all, Amy was beyond help, so it was difficult to understand how she thought. For a moment, he had pondered what would anger him the most. He didn't think there was a way to make Amy feel the kind of scathing hatred that consumed him whenever he thought of Stoppable, but he had realised what could be a good close second.

He fumbled around in the dark until he made it to Amy's bed. For a split second he wondered what would happen if she was there after all, but thankfully his hands didn't meet anything that was alive. What he did find was exactly what he had been looking for – a little stuffed toy.

Monkey Fist didn't care which Cuddly Buddy he was currently holding. With a swift movement that was usually meant for enemies whose necks he wanted to snap, he tore off the toy's head and tossed it on the floor. Every other Cuddle Buddy he found in the room met the same sorry fate until the floor was riddled with beheaded toys.

Once he was done, Monkey Fist reached into his bag and pulled out a can of spray paint. It was a crude way to leave a message, but he supposed he had to be blunt.

* * *

Amy shook her head sadly as she eyed the damage in her bedroom. All of her Cuddle Buddies were ruined, but thankfully she had had all the rare ones with her in Japan. The destroyed ones were all extras, but seeing them butchered like that still hurt.

"You know, I'm not sure if it's a good idea to want to date a guy who breaks into your home and cuts your favourite toys' heads off. If he's trying to leave you a message, it's a little freaky," Adrena Lynn commented.

"I just don't understand why Monty-poo would do this," Amy said.

"Maybe that's why," Adrena suggested and pointed at the huge text that was written on the wall.

"I hate Cuddle Buddies more than anything else in the world," Amy read out loud. Under the text was Monty's signature.

"Amy, this may come as a shock to you, but I don't think you have a future with the monkey man. Listen, why don't we go out tonight, and I'll introduce you to –" Adrena started, but she didn't get the chance to finish.

"The poor thing," Amy sighed.

"Huh?"

"I mean Monty. It's obvious that he finally came to terms with his feelings for me and came to confess his love to me. And when he got here, he found out that I had gone to the Cuddle Buddy convention. He must have been so frustrated. I bet that's why he destroyed all my toys," Amy said.

"I don't think that's it," Adrena said, but Amy could barely hear her. All she could think about was the sadness and anger her cuddle monkey must have felt when he had realised that she wasn't there. That he couldn't be in her arms because of her Cuddle Buddies. She could understand him very well, but he had still gone too far.

"First I'll clean up this mess, and then I'll pay him a visit so that he can apologize. Then it's time we start making up for all this lost time," she decided. She couldn't wait to see the look on Monty's face when she showed up at his doorstep.

**025: You remind me of someone**

"Oh, yoo-hoo! Yono calling!"

Kim stopped for a split second when Monkey Fist's enthusiastic voice was heard from outside the Yamanouchi walls right before the gate exploded into bits before their eyes. Even as she readied herself for an attack, she frowned in confusion.

Monkey Fist was known to lose it when he got excited about something, but somehow Kim didn't think the word choice fit the deranged British lord and ninja. It was so… childish. Almost like baby-talk. Where could he have picked it up?

A thought crossed Kim's mind, but she quickly shook her head.

Nah. No way.


	8. Twenty Six to Thirty

Here we go. These are the final five stories in this series. Even though it took such a long time, I've had tons of fun writing this story, and I hope you had even half as much fun reading it.

Stinki the skunk who appears in 029 is a character from the German Kim Possible magazine. He made an appearance in one comic in which he was magically bonded with Monkey Fist. The story I wrote takes place after this comic. It's not necessary to read the comic, but you can find a translated version of it at the Ultimate Monkey Archive (link in my profile).

**Note: **I posted two chapters this time because I want to have this story done with. If you automatically came to the last chapter, please go back one chapter.

**ME MONTY, YOU AMY**

**026-030**

**026: I can be like you**

DNAmy could barely hold back a squeal of excitement as the doors of her genetic machine were shut before her with a hiss. She closed her eyes and waited. She had always wanted to know what mutation felt like, but until now she had never experimented on herself. There had been no reason to; she only wanted to collect living Cuddle Buddies and create cute friends for to keep her company.

But now… Everything depended on this. The idea had stuck her like a lightning bolt. Of course! There had to be a reason why her Monty never responded to her calls or appeared on the dates that she set up. She had been so stupid.

Finding good gorilla DNA had been easy for her, and she had quickly formulated a plan for her new body. She could have just followed her Monty's example, but she wanted to go further than that. She had to make sure that he found her attractive.

Amy gasped as her machine got to work and started altering her genetic structure. She couldn't wait for her new body or showing it to him. It would be so romantic. She could already imagine the surprise and adoration that would light up his face when he saw what she had done just for his sake…

He would finally love her.

**027: Author's Choice – Missing in action**

Monty-wonty hadn't returned from his latest adventure, and Amy was getting worried. She frowned to herself as she was patching one of his old ninja garbs that had got ripped in training. It was now two weeks since he had left, and she hadn't heard from him since. It wasn't unusual for him to leave her for such a long time, but he always let her know what he was doing. He said it was easier than listening to her nag at him about it when he got back.

This time he hadn't gone to search for some random ancient temple in the middle of nowhere or to perfect his Tai Shing Pek Kwar with his monkey ninjas. This time he had had a clear goal, and he had been so excited about it that he had forgotten all about the lunch box she had made for him.

I hope he hasn't hurt himself, Amy thought to herself. If he had, that was probably why he hadn't returned yet. Her Monty was so stupidly stubborn like that; he didn't like to show his pain to anyone and preferred licking his wounds somewhere private. Amy couldn't imagine what he thought he would accomplish by that. It wasn't like he had to pretend to be some sort of perfect hero for her sake.

And besides, she liked fussing over him when he was sick. She knew he was in no way dependant on her, so it always made her happy when she could feel like he needed her. The least he could have done was come home to her to get better.

She finished her work and went to put the ninja garb into the closet. She had washed every piece of clothing he kept at her place and piled them up nicely. For a man who ran around rainforests with monkeys, Monty could sometimes be really uptight about his clothes. She didn't usually cater to all of his wishes like that, but she wanted him to be happily surprised when he got home.

If he got home. Amy frowned in worry and glanced out the window. It was getting dark. Yet another long day had passed without a single word from her sugar cupcake. If they hadn't been together for a good while now, she knew she would have suspected him of having fled for good. She could still remember how she had had to chase him all around the globe just to speak to him.

"This just won't do," she said to herself as she lay alone in bed that night. No matter what had happened, it was about time for her Monty to come back to her. If he didn't do it himself, she'd just have to take matters into her own hands.

The next day she went online and visited Kim Possible's website. She left her a plea for help and went to bake cookies while she waited.

It didn't take much longer than two hours before her doorbell rang. She skipped to open it and was very happy to see Kim and Ron standing there. She opened the door wider and gestured for them to come inside.

"Hi! It's been so long since we last met. Come in! I've baked cookies," she babbled as she led them to the kitchen.

"Amy, what's going on? Why did you contact us?" Kim asked. She was frowning in confusion and worry, and Amy realised that she probably found it very odd that one of her enemies was asking for her help. Well, she didn't actually know if she even counted as an enemy. They hadn't faced each other since she had kidnapped her Monty that one time. Her lack of criminal activities was probably the reason why Kim had bothered to come in the first place.

"I really need your help. I don't know anyone else who could do this for me," Amy said. She hadn't specified why she needed them because she was certain that they wouldn't have come to see her if they had known it was about Monty. Now she could persuade them in person.

"Can I have milk with these?" Ron asked and pointed to the cookies he and Rufus were stuffing into their mouths.

"Sure. The cups are in that cupboard," Amy said.

"Okay, so what is it? You know we'll help anyone in trouble, but if it's something illegal -" Kim started, but she was interrupted by her boyfriend who was peering into the cupboard with interest.

"Nice mugs, Amy," he congratulated her and pulled out a black one that had monkey ears.

"Oh, that's not mine. I got it for Monty on his birthday," Amy said.

Kim and Ron shot weird looks at her.

"And… why is it here, then?" Ron asked after a moment of silence. He put down the mug like touching it was suddenly uncomfortable.

"Well, I don't think he thought it necessary to take it to the castle with him. I mean, we spend half of our time here anyway, so –" Amy drifted off as she realised that both of the teen heroes were giving her blank looks.

"What?" she asked.

"Since when do you and Monkey Fist live together?" Kim asked in a doubtful voice.

"Yeah, weren't you guys on pretty bad terms? I mean... Well, he was running away from you last time we saw you," Ron said.

Amy giggled. "I know. Wasn't that funny? But we worked things out between us. It wasn't easy and he said many nasty things to me, but now it's going pretty well. I'm so happy!"

Kim and Ron cringed as they glanced at each other.

"So why was it that you called us here again?" Kim asked. Her tone was a little hesitant now. If Amy hadn't known that she was a tough crime fighter, she would have said that the girl sounded like she was afraid of something.

"It's because of Monty," she admitted, not seeing the uncomfortable looks that appeared on her guests' faces. "He hasn't come back from his adventure. I'm starting to get a little worried, so I'd be really happy if you could help me find him. He mentioned you when he left, so I thought you might know what's going on."

She saw the awkward look in Kim's eyes and knew instantly that she had something bad to tell her. The worried frown on the redhead's face made Amy dread what they had to say.

"Did you arrest him?" she asked. Maybe Monty was too ashamed to let her know that. It would be so like him to want to escape on his own without help.

"No, no. We didn't," Kim said.

"Oh. Then why are you looking at me like that?" Amy asked. Kim's sad expression was starting to frighten her. She felt like she had just swallowed a chunk of ice.

"He's not hurt, is he?" she asked.

Kim sighed. "Amy, I'm really sorry to tell you this, but…" Her words faded away as she became uncertain of what she was about to say. She glanced at Ron for support.

The boy looked more serious than Amy had ever seen him before. He shifted uncomfortably. Even Rufus had grown silent and had stopped eating the cookies.

"Amy, did Monkey Fist ever tell you about the Yono?" Ron asked.

**028: Author's Choice – It's too late now**

Monkey Fist didn't know how long he had been following the Path of the Yono – if it could be called that. There wasn't actually any following involved; he merely existed in endless darkness with no sounds, sensations, or the ability to move. He wasn't even sure if he even had a body anymore. For all he knew, he could be just a spirit drifting in a never-ending void of blackness.

He tried to avoid thinking about his situation. The lack of any feelings had frightened him at first, and he had almost driven himself mad with his desperate thoughts of escape, how this couldn't happen to him and how he would kill Stoppable and his little sister once he was free. It had felt like being strapped down to a hospital bed in the psychiatric ward so that he couldn't move a muscle in his body or even scream, and yet it had been nothing like that. He couldn't fight against restraints because there weren't any. He couldn't close his eyes from the blinding light of the lamps because he didn't have eyes and there was no light. He couldn't listen to inconsiderate babble about his state because there were no doctors present.

No, he simply existed all alone. The ability to scream in rage and terror was probably what he missed the most. Now it felt like his mind was trapped in a small glass orb and he couldn't make his discomfort – if such a light word could be used in this situation – known in any way. Not that many would have cared.

A bitter thought threatened to penetrate his meditation.

Calm down.

Don't think.

He would have probably gone mad if he hadn't forced himself to suppress every painful thought filled with hatred and fear – and later regret. It still took considerable effort because he had never been good at holding back his emotions. Even now he couldn't get rid of that one stubborn part of is mind that wanted to just give in to the temptation and start trashing and screaming about how this wasn't what he had wanted and someone had better release him _right now._

There were times when he though he could hear something, but it was always muffled and made no sense, so he supposed he had to be imagining it. It wouldn't have surprised him if his mind was starting to crack under the enormous stress. In a way it might have been a relief. At least it would have given him a blessed break from trying not to think about all the things that were on his mind.

Sometimes when his concentration broke just a little to let some wandering idea through, he momentarily thought back to his life and everything he had done. He couldn't enjoy any of the memories, not even the happy ones about his family, archaeology or Tai Shing Pek Kwar. All of that felt like it had taken place so long ago and happened to some other person that he felt disconnected from the events. What had his father's voice sounded like? What year had he graduated from Oxford? He was starting to forget.

The possibility of that frightened him more than he wanted to admit. If he forgot who he was, he would be nothing but an empty mind with no purpose. He wouldn't even know why he had been sentenced to suffer like this for all eternity, and that was enough to drive anyone insane.

He rarely let himself think about Stoppable, the Yono or the events that had led to his torture. It would have been too much for him to recall how foolish he had been and how many things he should have done differently. He shouldn't have trusted the Yono. Stoppable should have died. These thoughts always filled him with desperate rage and threatened to break his meditation.

Monkey Fist would have winced if he could have still felt his body.

Don't think.

And then there was DNAmy. Due to some ironic twist of fate, his memories of her were the strongest of all. Even when the details of his career and ninja training were getting murky, nothing about her seemed to fade away. Her shrill voice still rang in his ears; he could remember every cutesy pet name she had ever called him, and sometimes he felt he could actually feel her soft body when she hugged him close and deprived him of oxygen. It was like she was actually there with him.

Contrary to what one might expect, he wasn't bothered by the memories. They provided him with something concrete to think about when his concentration slipped, and some of the memories of her were actually quite happy. He liked thinking about the mutation procedure on his hands and feet, for example. Amy had been the only person in the world who had understood what he wanted and hadn't judged him for it.

Then there was that one time when he had been able to have an intelligent conversation with her at a villain convention. She was relatively capable and reasonable when she wasn't trying to hug him to death. And she was a good cook. She got well along with the monkey ninjas and didn't mind it if they made a mess. Unlike everyone else, she at respected him and liked him for who he was. If she had been like that more often instead of turning into a raging madwoman whenever he was around, he might have been interested.

In fact, the vaguer his memories of everything else in his life got, the more often he found himself playing with ideas. If he were ever released, he would go to Amy and tell her to get a grip. Then once she had got it – maybe after five or six attempts from his part – he would invite her to dinner. She could tell him about her latest mutations, or at least about the more sensible ones. He would enlighten her about Mystical Monkey Power for she was probably the only one who liked to listen to him go on and on about it.

These thoughts were very entertaining, but at the same time he realised how dangerous they were. If he played with them too much, the familiar anger and bitterness threatened to come back. Fantasies were good in small doses, but if he let them loose, he would only go mad with the knowledge that they would never come true. He knew that he would never be free and that he would never talk to Amy again.

He was a stone statue now, forever following the Path of the Yono by his own choice. He had had numerous chances to be with Amy, but he had wasted them all. She probably didn't know what had happened to him. Maybe she thought that he was still hiding from her. And if she did know about his state, she had probably moved on.

Monkey Fist doubted that she missed him. How ironic it was. When he would have given anything to get back to her, she had most likely forgotten all about him.

That Stoppable! If only the pretender hadn't ruined everything! If only his horrible sister had just died! If only he hadn't believed what the Yono had said. If only he had talked to Amy before –

No. He couldn't afford to lose control now.

Don't think.

Don't think.

**029: Author's Choice – Mystical Skunk Power**

"Monkey ninjas, attack!"

Monkey Fist watched in satisfaction how his simian minions charged at each other and engaged in combat. He had put much effort into training them, and he felt proud for both them and himself as he observed their agile and swift movements. They were efficient, deadly and most of all, fiercely loyal to him. Just a little more training and –

Suddenly the monkeys stopped their battle and turned to stare at something that had entered the training grounds with no warning. As soon as they realised who the intruder was, they let out terrified shrieks and scattered to all directions to get away from the newly-arrived threat.

Monkey Fist was left alone to stare at the sudden opponent.

"No, not you! Didn't I tell you to vanish from my sight?" he yelled in frustration and tore at his hair.

The little black animal before him said nothing, only stared up at him with cutesy dot eyes and a goofy expression that would have been a smile if skunks had been able to form that expression. The creature scurried over to him and climbed up his body to make it to his shoulder.

Monkey Fist groaned in exasperation as he covered his eyes with his hand. It was one thing to be defeated by Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable and see his brilliant plan fail yet again, but being bonded for life with a skunk was an entirely new low for him. It was humiliating beyond belief to even think about it, which was why he had abandoned the blasted animal in the middle of a forest and told him not to follow.

He didn't know if it was because of the spell or the skunk's general clinginess that had led Stinki back to him. As he had told Kim and Ron, the spell that bound them together was eternal and could never be reversed. That, however, didn't mean that he was content with having a skunk as his pet for the rest of his life, especially since being in Stinki's presence seemed to activate the… powers he had gained through the spell.

"Do you have to keep following me around?" he asked. He had considered simply killing the animal to get rid of the problem, but he hadn't dared. He didn't know what side effects the spell binding them had, and he didn't want to take the risk of causing harm to himself through the skunk. He had been hoping that he could simply tell the animal to go, but as Kim had noted, Stinki seemed to have taken a liking to him.

He grabbed the skunk by his neck and put him back on the ground. Monkey Fist simply didn't know what to do. He couldn't continue his quest for world domination and fulfilling his destiny if there was a skunk following him around.

If only he had been bonded with Rufus like his original plan had been. Then he could have used the rodent's Mystical Monkey Power and become even stronger. If not that, he should have used the spell to bond with one of his monkey ninjas to get even more enchanted simian abilities. But no, he had to be eternally stuck with a skunk!

He supposed he could have lived with this if his monkeys hadn't reacted so badly to Stinki. It was somewhat hard to keep training them when they fled whenever they caught sight of the little animal and refused to come back until he was gone. Monkey Fist knew they had to be nearby somewhere, watching the two of them. He suspected that the main reason to their dislike was that they didn't want any other creature to get close to their master. The smell wasn't really a problem since Stinki liked them all and didn't need to use his scent glands.

"Just what am I going to do with you?" he wondered.

Stinki didn't seem affected by his foul mood. He nuzzled against Monkey Fist's leg, making the simian villain grimace. The skunk was annoyingly cute. Keeping him around would be bad for his reputation. Having cutesy little sidekicks like that was much more in character for the likes of DNAmy.

She would probably like this little pest, he thought with a frown. No, she'd love him. And Stinki, being such a little attention-stealer, would probably like her back. Idiots always seemed to enjoy each other's company.

Monkey Fist made a thoughtful sound as he turned to look at the skunk. Would it be that simple? Could he really just go and dump Stinki at Amy's place and say goodbye to the skunk forever? It sounded good, but there was always the risk that he'd get rid of another problem and create another. Amy had been quiet lately and hadn't tried to bother him after the incident when she had given herself a gorilla body. If he approached her now, especially with something she would no doubt see as a cutesy gift, she would probably jump at him with renewed energy and affection.

And maybe it wasn't even possible to live apart from Stinki for very long. There were still too many details about this spell that he didn't know. He hadn't exactly planned on being separated from Rufus as it would have meant losing the Mystical Monkey Power he should have stolen from the naked mole rat. He would have to look into this.

"Alright, we're done for today!" he announced and clapped his hands together. He got up and started marching to his hideout so that he could do some more research on the spell. Thankfully he had all the material he needed. His little library here was filled with books on this particular spell.

His monkeys followed him with some hesitation when they saw that Stinki was also hopping along. The ninjas tried to keep their distance to the skunk, but it proved a little difficult when Stinki insisted on following their trail and jumping around between them, breaking their formations and making them bump into each other as they tried to avoid the smaller animal. Nobody had the nerve to shoo the skunk away.

Monkey Fist waited at the door until all of the monkeys were inside.

"No, you're not coming," he said to Stinki and slammed the door shut before the skunk got through.

He told the monkeys to start preparing tea while he went to his study. This was only a small lair, so he didn't have much room, but he always made sure he had room for research when he built a new hideout. It was essential for his work on Mystical Monkey Power.

While his minions were busy elsewhere, he surveyed the pile of books on his desk. He had read what the top ones had to say about the bonding spell, but he hadn't touched the others, thinking that the information he had already found was sufficient. Now he felt a stab of regret at that. Maybe he could have avoided his current predicament if he hadn't been so impatient.

He moved the useless books to the shelf and opened one of the dusty tomes that he hadn't read yet. First he had to browse through it, carefully turning the pages so that he wouldn't damage them and translating the ancient language in his mind as he tried to find what he was looking for.

Ah, there it was. There was an entire chapter about this spell and his situation. He was just about to start reading when one of the monkey ninjas arrived at the door.

"What is it?" Monkey Fist asked. "Is the tea ready?"

The monkey shook his head.

"Then what is it?" Monkey Fist said with an irritated edge in his voice.

The monkey let out a worried ook and pointed outside the room. Monkey Fist sighed and got up. Could he not leave his minions alone for five minutes without having to clean up their mess? What could it possibly be this time?

Once he made it to the next room, it took him a moment to understand where the annoying squawking voice was coming from. At first he thought it was some sort of bird, but when he realised that it was coming from behind the front door, he felt like slapping himself.

"I always did wonder what skunks sound like," he muttered as he walked to the door. He opened it just enough so that he could see outside but so that Stinki couldn't get in.

"I told you that you can't get in!" he snapped.

The skunk looked up at him with huge, pleading eyes and tilted his head from one side to another. Monkey Fist felt like rolling his eyes. If he had had a soft spot for cute things, he would have accepted Amy's advances a long time ago.

"You're scaring my monkeys," he said, thinking that maybe rational arguments would work. Maybe it was because of the spell, but he felt that the skunk probably understood what he said.

Stinki responded by standing up to lean against the door with his front paws and letting out a pitiful squawk.

"I said that -" Monkey Fist started, but then he felt how someone came to push the door open some more. He glanced down to see that it was one of his monkey ninjas. Before he had the time to question just what said individual thought he was doing, Stinki had used the opportunity and dashed inside, happily nuzzling against his leg.

Monkey Fist crossed his arms on his chest.

"Explain," he said to the monkey who had dared to go against his orders.

The monkey let out a series of quiet ooks and pointed at Stinki. As if understanding, the skunk left Monkey Fist's leg alone and turned to greet the minion with a hopeful expression on his face. Once it became certain that the monkey was not running away, Stinki let out a happy squawk and proceeded to make a little dance around the ninja.

"What do you mean you want to give him a chance? He's a menace!" Monkey Fist snapped at the ninja.

One of the other monkeys dared to suggest that maybe the skunk would be a valuable addition to their team – provided that they started carrying gas masks around as part of their regular arsenal.

"That's an incredibly stupid idea," Monkey Fist said. The skunk was nothing but trouble and would only further ruin all of his plans. Stinki was not staying. As soon as he found out if it was possible to live separately from the blasted animal, he would take him to Amy and never see him again in his life.

He marched back to his study and sat down before the large book again. Thankfully Stinki decided to use this opportunity to make friends with the monkey ninjas, so he was not bothered by anyone. He found the section that he had been looking at and started to read.

This spell had not been very difficult to find. It was actually quite known in certain circles, but he had never really thought that it could be useful to him. Monkey Fist loved power and would have gladly taken anything that made him stronger, but he was not ready to pay a price for that. Being bonded for life with an animal he couldn't stand was not what he wanted. He had even taken his time to decide if he really wanted to use the spell on Rufus. Monkey Fist had no fond feelings for the naked mole rat, and he had been planning to lock him up in a small cage forever so that he would be out of the way.

The first page of the book summarised what he already knew; once he was bonded with an animal, there was no way of breaking the spell and that he would get the animal's powers as a result. He frowned in annoyance and turned the page. There had to be more about the after-effects somewhere.

Crash!

He nearly jumped to his feet when a loud sound broke his concentration without any warning. He hit his knee painfully against the bottom of the desk and cursed under his breath as he rubbed the aching spot.

Monkey Fist wondered if it was worth the inevitable headache to go and see what had happened. He had known the stupid skunk would cause nothing but trouble! With a groan, he supposed that it was his duty to go and scold whoever had messed up.

"What's going on here?" he asked as he stepped into the small corner the monkeys liked to use as kitchen.

The monkey ninjas were standing in a circle around what appeared to be broken utensils and spilled tea. Stinki was sitting in the middle of the mess and staring at everyone around him in bafflement.

"Don't you dare tell me it was an accident," Monkey Fist muttered. Quality tea sets weren't exactly easy to come by in these parts of the world. It would take some weeks before he'd be able to get a new one, and he didn't really fancy the idea of using paper cups for drinking tea. It watered down the whole experience.

One of the monkeys told him that he had stepped on Stinki's tail when he hadn't been looking where he had been going. It only confirmed what Monkey Fist already knew.

"That thing is not part of the pack! Look! He has already caused you to make mistakes!" he snapped and pointed an accusing finger at the miserable skunk.

Stinki made a whining noise and let his head hang. Monkey Fist felt no pity for the little menace and only rolled his eyes at the pathetic attempt of an apology.

"Clean up this mess and bring me my tea," he said to the monkeys. It probably wouldn't help to throw Stinki out now that he had been let in and got along with the monkeys. Besides, if it was possible to take the skunk to Amy, it was preferable to keep him around so that he could grab the bugger by the neck and dump him at Amy's place.

* * *

It took almost half an hour before the monkeys brought the tea to him. It was served from a flower pot with plastic plates and cups. Someone had tried to improve the humble set with a daisy that was standing alone in a tall pot, but Monkey Fist was not very impressed by the display.

"Leave it here and go away," he said, not lifting his eyes from the book on his desk.

He was so used to that everyone always obeyed his commands that it took him a moment to realise that he wasn't quite alone anymore. The monkeys, knowing what their master could be like when he got angry, had hurried away as fast as they could, but the skunk had stayed. At the moment he was merely standing there, staring up at him with adoration.

Monkey Fist stared back, his frown deepening every moment.

"What do you want?" he asked slowly. He wasn't really expecting the animal to give him a response of any kind. After all, Stinki was only a skunk. He couldn't possibly come even close to the intellect of his specially trained monkey ninjas.

Stinki hopped on the desk and ran over the book that Monkey Fist was reading. Before the simian man had even had the time to protest, the skunk had jumped on his knees and curled up into a comfortable position there. Monkey Fist's first idea was to shove the bugger off, but he stopped himself just in time. That might anger the skunk. The last thing he needed right now was to have his library and priceless books ruined by the horrible stench.

He glared down at the skunk. Why was the thing being so affectionate?

"Somehow I get the feeling that you and Amy will get along wonderfully," Monkey Fist muttered.

Stinki wasn't really bothering him aside from the fact that he didn't like his commands being ignored, so he let the skunk be there and returned to his book. He turned the page, read the first lines and suddenly felt his heart start pounding faster in triumph.

"Yes!" he declared. This was exactly what he had been looking for! He read the lines again to make sure he had understood them right. It actually was possible to get rid of the skunk without any side effects to either one of them, provided that both parties were happy with living separately.

If the skunk liked him, he would absolutely love Amy. This was perfect!

"Well, Stinki," he said to the skunk that was eying him with curiosity, "I think it's time you prepare to meet your new owner."

* * *

However, there was one part of the plan that Monkey Fist didn't like. Namely, he would actually have to meet Amy so that he could give the skunk to her. He was hesitant to see her now and potentially break the lovely peace after the gorilla body incident, but he supposed some prices had to be paid. He simply couldn't keep Stinki.

The skunk's influence on the monkey ninjas was even worse than he had imagined. Stinki was always in the way, ruining and breaking things and then acting all innocent and adorable when he was discovered. Monkey Fist didn't dare punish him in fear of upsetting him so much that he would use his stench or refuse to stay with Amy.

The monkey ninjas had noticed that Stinki was getting away with things that would have earned them a fierce punishment. They were now getting daring as well. One time they had forgotten to add milk to his tea even though he had specifically asked for it. Monkey Fist was certain that they would go even further than that if the skunk wasn't dealt with as soon as possible.

It was because of this decision that he found himself knocking on Amy's door with Stinki in his arms and the monkey ninjas in a straight row behind him. He hadn't actually visited Amy ever before at her house, but it hadn't been difficult to tell her home apart from the other houses in the neighbourhood. Nobody else had quite that many flowers in their garden, and the little bird fountain that had three sparrows with antlers taking a bath was also quite an obvious hint.

He cringed when he heard the sound of someone coming to the door and sent a silent prayer to whatever monkey spirits might be watching over him when the door opened.

For just a split second Amy stared at him with a dumbfounded look on her face.

"Monty!" she squealed and assaulted him with a bear hug that sent him off balance so that they fell on the sidewalk with her on top of him. Stinki let out an alarmed squawk and jumped off just in time to avoid getting in on the experience.

"Let go!" Monkey Fist snapped as he struggled to push Amy off him, but she could be terribly strong when she was very determined. She opened her eyes and looked up at him with pure adoration and bliss, grinning like she was the happiest person in the world. She didn't loosen her hold on him at all.

"Oh, I knew you'd come to me one day, honey bunny!" she said.

"I'm only here because of business," Monkey Fist said, trying to keep his voice determined and steady, but it was a little difficult with Amy slowly choking him to death.

Amy's grin only widened. "Just like last time, huh?" she asked slyly.

Monkey Fist blinked, trying to guess which part of her irrational fantasies that weren't in any way based on reality she could mean this time. Maybe she was thinking back to the incident with the gorilla body and Sensei. Or maybe she was referring way back to the time when they had met and worked on his hands and feet. Either way, there had been nothing romantic about it. He just couldn't understand how her twisted mind worked. The truth was right there, but she was too blind to se it.

"I mean it," he gasped, still struggling to get free of her clutches. Stars were starting to dance before his eyes.

Apparently, even Amy noticed that his face was turning blue.

"Honey bunny, what's wrong?" she asked. She let go of him and helped him get back up on his feet. "You really should take better care of yourself."

Monkey Fist bit back an angry retort about that she was the cause of all of his problems. It wouldn't do to make her angry now. He needed to convince her to take in Stinki. It might be a little difficult. Not even Amy could be insane enough to want a skunk in her house.

"But who is this cute little thing? Isn't he just a darling!" Amy cooed. As Monkey Fist turned around, he saw that she had captured Stinki into her arms and was giving the skunk the exact same treatment Monkey Fist had received only moments ago. Stinki was squirming a little, but once Amy calmed down and loosened her iron hold on him, he relaxed and took in the woman who was holding him.

Monkey Fist held his breath and inwardly pleaded that Stinki would like Amy. He didn't know what he would do if this failed.

Thankfully it looked like the skunk had no taste. That familiar goofy grin appeared on his face and he pressed his nose against Amy's, making the woman giggle with mirth.

"Monty, I didn't know you had a thing for cute animals," she said as she turned to face him.

"I don't. It's for you. His name is Stinki," Monkey Fist said.

"A present! Oh, you shouldn't have! Thank you!"

Monkey Fist straightened his gi that had got a little ruffled after Amy's enthusiastic reaction to him. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I am very busy and -"

"Don't tell me you're already going? You just got here, and I haven't even offered you anything yet!" Amy objected.

"I have no intention of wasting my time socialising! I only came here to drop off the skunk!" Monkey Fist said.

Both Amy and Stinki regarded him with sour and disappointed expressions.

"Don't be such a bore. You made it all the way here. The least you can do is drop by for some tea and cookies. Your monkeys must want refreshments," Amy said. She turned to look at the monkeys and smiled invitingly at them. "Isn't that right, you cuties? Aren't you just adorable?"

"They're fierce and hard-boiled warriors, Amy! They don't -" Monkey Fist started, but he was interrupted when Amy pushed past him to the door and entered her house. To his dismay, Monkey Fist realised that his group of monkey minions were following her.

"I didn't say you could go inside!" he snapped, but he only got a few guilty glances as a response.

That skunk has ruined everything, he thought as he reluctantly followed his minions. He had to keep an eye on them. If he wasn't careful, they might decide to move in with Amy as well. She had a way of wrapping animals around her little finger.

They made their way to her kitchen. Stinki tried to jump on the table, but Amy shooed him away with a wave of her hand.

"I'm sorry, but I don't let animals on the table," she apologized to him when he shot a glare at him.

Monkey Fist crossed his arms on his chest and tapped his foot impatiently. The monkey ninjas had all taken seats at the floor and were looking at her with hopeful eyes. Monkey Fist hated it that they were ignoring him. He was clenching his fists so hard that if the skin of his palms hadn't been roughened from training in the wilderness, his nails might have pierced it.

"Let's see what I have here," Amy said and skipped to open a bright pink cupboard with yellow flowers painted on it. She pulled out a big cookie jar and handed everyone a large chocolate chip cookie.

Monkey Fist shook his head when she approached him. "No, thank you," he said icily.

"Take it! You'll like it!" Amy said and shoved it into his hand.

"I said no!" he snapped and tried to put it back into the jar, but Amy closed the lid and moved the jar away from his reach. He placed the cookie on the table in defiance; he certainly wasn't going to eat it.

"Then be that way," Amy huffed as she turned to hand out more cookies to the monkey ninjas and Stinki.

Monkey Fist observed how the others ate. Stinki was happily munching his cookie and letting out almost purring sounds when Amy stroked his back. The simian villain smiled at that. His plan was working perfectly.

Amy saw his smile and immediately jumped to the wrong conclusion. She sighed and rested her head on her hands.

"I'm so happy that you decided to visit me," she said.

"It's just because of the skunk," Monkey Fist said.

"That was such a sweet gift. You knew exactly what I look for in cute and cuddly friends," Amy replied.

Monkey Fist suddenly had a horrible idea. What if Amy experimented on Stinki and spliced his DNA with something else? The spell that bound them together would ensure that he would feel the effects, too. Knowing Amy, it would be something ludicrous like a skunk and whale hybrid. Monkey Fist didn't really fancy the idea of becoming a sumo wrestler.

"And one thing. Don't you dare tamper with his DNA," he said quickly.

For a moment Amy looked a little disappointed, but she quickly covered it up with a smile. "Of course not, honey. I wouldn't make alterations to a gift," she said.

"You had better keep that in mind! If I find out that you've done something to him, I will never forgive you!" Monkey Fist snapped.

"Why are you getting so angry over this? You know I always keep my promises," Amy said.

Monkey Fist said nothing. He couldn't possibly tell Amy about the spell. She would probably think he was insane. Just like all the others hardcore villains, she knew the basics of his goal, but he didn't know if she actually believed in magic. Fortunately he didn't have to decide whether he should make himself ridiculous before her or not because she took the decision off his shoulders.

"You must care a lot about him," she said and poked Stinki gently to the nose.

"I wouldn't really call it that, but you could say we share a special bond," Monkey Fist muttered.

"Then are you sure you want to give him to me?" Amy asked.

"Yes, I'm absolutely positive."

Stinki turned to look at him when Monkey Fist said these words. There was odd sadness and longing in the skunk's eyes, and it made the man want to squirm.

"Oh, don't look at me like that," he growled. "You know this place is much more suitable for you."

"Maybe you should reconsider this. I know these things, and I can tell that he really likes you," Amy said.

"So what?" Monkey Fist barked. "I can't keep him! He won't survive in jungles or snowy mountains, and I am not going to drag dead weight behind me."

Stinki lowered his head in defeat. Amy gave him a little pat to cheer him up.

"Oh, don't worry. You'll get lots of new friends here, and I'm sure Monty will visit us many times," she said.

"I wouldn't count on that," Monkey Fist said.

"Are you working on some new project?" Amy asked, making Monkey Fist cringe a little. When he had departed from Amy after the mutation procedure had been successfully finished, he had told her that he was too busy with his work to stay in touch with her. It had been true, of course, but it annoyed him to think that after all this time, he was still working on that exact same thing and wasn't any closer to achieving his goal.

"Yes, but it's not like that's your business in any way," he replied.

"You sure are grumpy today. You really should have some of my cookies. They always make me feel better when I'm feeling down," Amy said with a frown.

"I already said no. Besides, we're leaving now," Monkey Fist said. He clapped his hands together to get the monkey ninjas' attention and noted with distaste that they had eaten more than their share of cookies. There would be some extra training waiting for them when they got back to the lair.

"Wait!" Amy called after him.

Monkey Fist stopped and turned back to glare at her.

"Why did you bring Stinki to me?" Amy asked.

"Because you're the only person I could imagine giving him to," Monkey Fist said with a roll of his eyes.

Amy moved faster than any ninja Monkey Fist had ever seen and was suddenly hugging him tightly against her chest. He felt something crack and wondered if he'd still be able to walk when she let go.

"Oh, cuddle monkey! I always knew you cared about me!" Amy squealed.

"No! I meant that you're the only one stupid enough to – mnnngh!" Monkey Fist tried to explain, but Amy silenced him by pressing her lips against his and trapping him into the most intense kiss he had had felt in quite some time – the downside of getting the monkey features he loved so much was that his popularity among women had sunk to rock bottom.

He struggled with all his might to become free of her clutches and desperately gasped for breath when she finally let go. The shock of the horrid experience he had just gone through had rendered his legs useless, so he fell on the floor while he was still trying to comprehend what had just happened.

Amy didn't seem to notice his discomfort at all. She helped him get up and gave him a little shove towards the door.

"Bye, bye, honey bunny! Come visit us again when your work is done!" she said and waved at him.

Monkey Fist couldn't remember when he had last run so fast.

**030: Author's Choice – Honesty **

"Oh, this is going to be so great!"

The chubby woman rushed upstairs from the basement with surprising speed and stopped in the middle of the living room, panting from a mixture of excitement and exercise. Her face was glowing red and her eyes were positively shining with mirth, and she didn't even try to hold back the grin that was threatening to split her face into two.

DNAmy could recall only one time when she had been happier, but this actually came very close. For the whole week she had agonised over what sort of living Cuddle Buddy she would create next, but now inspiration had finally hit her. She couldn't believe it that she hadn't got this idea sooner. It was just amazing! She couldn't wait to get started, but at first she wanted to share the awesome news with someone.

Monkey Fist peered at her over the newspaper he was currently reading in the old armchair he had brought over from his castle. It was a dusty old thing, but he had said he needed a little spot of familiarity in the middle of Amy's mostly pink furniture. Amy thought the whole chair was dreadful and depressing, but if it made her cuddle monkey happy, she wouldn't argue about the matter.

"What now?" Monkey Fist asked, still eying the paper and only half-paying attention to her.

"I've got a great idea! I'm going to make a new Cuddle Buddy with the DNA of a snow leopard and a Gila monster!" Amy announced.

"Why?" Monkey Fist asked in doubtful tone.

Amy giggled. Sure, he had a university degree, but sometimes he was just so slow. "Don't you see? The result will be a cute and cuddly creature that is venomous and threatening but not deadly. It's the perfect guard for private property!" she said.

"Didn't you already create monster dogs for that purpose?" the simian man asked. He had returned to reading the paper.

"They're not monsters! The fact that they're ten feet tall and have fangs doesn't mean they aren't nice!" Amy snapped.

"Then what about the fact that snow leopards live in a cold climate and Gila monsters in the desert? They're contradicting areas! How would your creature survive anywhere?" Monkey Fist argued.

"I could work around that," Amy said, determined not to give up that easily. She knew in her heart that this idea was awesome, and she wasn't going to let that grumpy killjoy ruin her fun. She could already imagine how cute and useful her Gilpard could be.

"Don't waste your time," Monkey Fist remarked.

Amy frowned and crossed her arms on her chest. The least that Monty could do was look at her when she spoke to him! She marched over to him and snatched the paper from his hands, glaring daggers at him.

"You mean you don't like my idea?" she asked.

Monkey Fist glared back at her with equal annoyance as he tried to take the paper back. It was torn into two with a violent rip, and after one dismayed glance at it, he threw his half away.

"I think it's the most idiotic and useless idea you've had this month!" he snapped as he got up from the chair and stomped outside to look for his monkey ninjas.

Amy sighed angrily. It was times like this that she wondered just why she was living with him in the first place.

* * *

It was three in the morning. The basement was lit by dozens of candles that spread their flickering light all around, making shadows dance on the bare walls of the room. Five monkey ninjas were standing in a semi-circle, keeping their heads bowed as they waited for their master to speak.

Monkey Fist stood before his minions and regarded them with a pleased and proud look. He had been preparing them and himself for this moment for months. It was finally that one destined night when they would reach the next level of their training and take one step closer to fulfilling their ultimate destiny.

He held an ancient scroll in his hand and lifted it above his head in triumph. "Tonight we will see the beginning of a new age! We have worked hard, but now it is finally the time to reap our rewards!" he announced, grinning in mad victory and enjoying the lovely sense of ecstasy that always made him feel like he was invincible.

The monkeys responded with enthusiastic ooks and started jumping on their places, eager to show their master how excited they were.

"Yes, my minions! No more shall we be humiliated by unworthy pretenders! From now on, we will crush our enemies! Ahahahahaha!"

Click!

Everyone turned to look at the door when the light was suddenly turned on. DNAmy was standing there in a pink nightgown, frowning unhappily and holding her hands on her hips.

"How many times do I have to tell you that you can't have your insane monkey rituals here, honey?" she asked. "I've already got three complaints from the neighbours."

"But this is important! I must introduce my minions to the next level of Tai Shing Pek Kwar!" Monkey Fist complained.

"You can do that in the morning. Maybe you can scream and ook around all night at the castle, but here you have to take others into consideration. Besides, I don't want you to stay up this late because then you're all grumpy and snappy in the morning."

"But -"

"No buts! You're coming to bed!" Amy walked to him, took the scroll from his hand and put it on the floor. Next she grabbed him by the ear and started dragging him upstairs, ignoring his complaints and struggling.

"Honestly, what kind of man wastes his time with nonsense like this?" Amy grumbled.

Monkey Fist growled under his breath. It was times like this that he wondered just why he was living with her in the first place.


End file.
